


The Heiress and the Commoner

by Tairulz



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: AU, Adorable dorks, Adventure, Arranged Marriage, Asahina Aoi/Hagakure Yasuhiro (minor), Domestic Fluff, Drama & Romance, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Female Togami, Genderbend, Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito (minor), I swear this isn't Aladdin, Kirigiri Kyouko/Maizono Sayaka (minor), Multi, Naegami, Other, Togami being Tsundere, this is completely original
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2016-09-15
Packaged: 2018-04-30 06:24:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 23,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5153579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tairulz/pseuds/Tairulz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wealthy Heiress Belinda Togami is unhappy in her home, despite her wealth and social standing. She decides to decides to take matters into her own hands, and as we all know a determined Togami is a force to be reckoned with.</p><p>Then she meets Makoto Naegi, by all accounts a plain and average boy, but he somehow catches Togami's eye. As they start to grow closer feelings develop. Will they have the happy ending they deserve? Or will jealous people tear them apart?</p><p> </p><p>  <em>[Earlier chapters will be edited and re-written once the main plot is complete]</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Their First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> READERS PLEASE NOTE: This story is also on my FF.net and quotev account, all of which have the same name. This is just to let you know so no-one says i stole my own story.
> 
> High School is a pain in the ass, so i warn you now that i don’t have a specific update schedule. But i do update as frequently as my free time will allow.
> 
> So i was just writing in my little green notebook, and came up with an idea that just won’t leave my brain until i write it. It took like 5 pages in my notebook (it was small but still). I am really excited to see how this turns out, and please don’t forget to tell me if there’s something i could do better, or if i mess up their characters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Togami won't stand for being bossed around, so she makes a point. While doing so, she meets our favourite Hoodie-wearing cutie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danganronpa is one of my new fav animes of all time. i have shippings for both DR 1 and 2. But my OTP for the first game is Naegi x Togami.
> 
> Togami’s female name shall be Belinda Togami, unless someone has a better suggestion, then by all means I’m all ears. This is not set in the modern Era (i didn’t have a specific era or place in mind), and also no despair. Obviously it’s an AU.

Our story begins in the estate of one of the richest families in the country, the Togami family. The current heiress, Belinda, was a very beautiful teenager (if not a bit cold in the emotional department). Long blond hair and piercing blue eyes, many a noble had tried to win her hand in marriage, but she refused them all one by one.

Having no parents or siblings however, meant pressure on Belinda to carry on the Togami family name. This was a fact she both accepted and hated. Because this meant…

“Belinda! We need to talk young lady!”

This made the young blonde groan with annoyance. She knew what was coming. Her uncle Richard had been increasingly impatient as to when she would finally accept a suitor. Staying still, she fixed her uncle with her customary blank stare and said nothing.

“You rejected another one! What was wrong with this one?”

Finally she spoke.

“Are you referring to that monotonous troglodyte?”

“…Unbelievable! Really Belinda how picky can you be? There are only so many willing young men out there….”

It was about this time that Belinda tuned her uncle out. Just because her uncle (and legal guardian) had been in an arranged marriage, doesn’t mean that she would spend the rest of her life with the first stuffy noble boy that came calling. What a ridiculous thought.

“… seeing as my wife never had any children before her untimely passing, it is up to you to carry on the illustrious family name…”

He was still talking? Honestly, her uncle could be so boring sometimes. It was one thing to make a point, it was another entirely to bore the recipient with a long winded lecture (that would be ignored and forgotten within the hour).

“…You need to choose someone by the time you turn 18, or someone will be chosen for you….”

“I doubt that, and id like to see you try.”

Without another word, the Togami heir walked away, any protesting words otherwise fell on deaf ears. She walked the halls until eventually she came to her favourite room in the estate, which was the library. She found a book, then sat in her favourite chair by the fireplace to read.

It was The Princess and the Pauper. While she wouldn’t publicly admit it, it was secretly one of her favourite books ever since childhood. Her mother used to read it to her before she died.

Then, the story gave her an idea. While she wouldn’t copy the book directly, the story inspired a different idea. For now she would do nothing, but when the time was right she would make her preparations. Her stubborn independent streak meant that she would rely on herself and her alone (even if there were some things she wasn’t used to doing by herself), a stubborn Togami was a considerable force.

That night, she applied some black hair die, and soon enough her hair was a different colour. Not as deep of a pitch black as she aimed for, but still a pretty dark shade. She didn’t have any contacts, not that she intended to get rid of her glasses anyway. She packed a small amount of clothing, food, and necessities in a medium sized bag, and finally a cloak that would conceal her face. She dyed her hair, but she wasn’t leaving un-prepared.

Dodging the night guard was an art she had been practicing for years, so it didn’t take much effort to reach the massive front gates. Without so much as a glance backwards, she slipped out into the night.

As she walked farther from the estate, she didn’t feel as sad as she thought she would. The estate had felt more like a glorified prison then a home.

Speaking of home, another problem was quickly approaching. Where was she going to stay? She wouldn’t be sleeping outside, that was for sure. She kept walking, until she realised she had no idea where she was going. She paused and huffed in frustration, she was about to keep walking when she heard a voice behind her.

“E-excuse me miss, are you lost?”

She spun on her heel and looked at the stranger. A small boy that was a few centimetres shorter then her, with messy brown hair and one stubborn bit that stuck out. He wasn’t nobility judging on how he was dressed. A simple green jacket, dark jeans and sneakers.

Then she realised something he said.

“How were you able to determine my gender?”

“Well, i noticed the way you walked, and your.. ah… figure.”

He trailed off at the end, scratching the back of his neck.

“Hmph, go figure. All men are perverted halfwits.”

The boy’s eyes widened in realisation, his face reddened and he waved his arms in front of him in a frantic manner.

“N-no that’s not what i meant! Not that your unattractive, i just meant that it was obvious you were a girl and well… i mean… i wasn’t staring at you because you had a- a large chest or anything i j-just happened to notice you and-“

He was cut off by an amused sound from his companion. 

“Tell me boy, whats your name? Assuming you can say that much without stuttering.”

“Of course, how could i forget?”

“Quite easily i imagine.”

The brunette either chose to ignore that or didn’t hear it.

“Naegi. My name is Makoto Naegi. What’s your name?”

Shit. Togami hadn’t thought of that. Quick, think of a fake name… ah yes, just use an old friends name. A simple solution to this game, the game of staying away from home for as long as possible.

“Celestia Ludenburg. A pleasure.”

Naegi hesitated, opening his mouth to say something, but must have decided against it and closed his mouth. This repeated a few times until Togami spoke up.

“Whatever you were going to say, spit it out, or have you lost the ability to speak?”

“I was only going to ask. You look kinda lost, would you like to stay in my home?”

The only response was a silent but reluctant nod, anything was preferable to sleeping outside. Then the two started walking. The taller making sure her hood was still up. As they continued their journey to Naegi’s home, a conversation was struck up.

“I require a ‘place to stay’ for about four months, would you really be willing to house a stranger for that long?”

“Not a problem.”

“Your sure bout this boy?”

“Course i am! You need help and i want to help you.”

“…You are entirely to trusting for your own good, you know that?”

“hehe.. so I’ve been told. My friends do say I’m a very optimistic person.”

“I am not surprised, you seem the gullible type.”

“Im glad you agree… hey! I’m not gullible.”

“Your shoe laces are untied Naegi.”

“Really?” He looked down.

“See? Gullible.”

After a short while of Naegi protesting and ‘Celestia’ teasing with an ever present smirk, they had finally arrived at Naegi’s home. A fairly average place, but large for a single person.

“Welcome to my home Celes-chan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really didn’t intend to, but you know what I’ve just realised? This kinda sounds like Aladdin so far. Its not going to be like that though, the whole thing won’t be a re-write of the whole movie. 
> 
> I have this all planned out, the only thing is expanding it into chapters. Due to my school life and homework i can’t promise an exact update schedule, but i will try my absolute best.
> 
> I love Danganronpa, and i will go down with this ship. Naegami is my OTP, but i respect all shippings. If you’d like me to try and sneak a side pairing in (somehow), let me know (both DR 1 and 2).


	2. A Much Needed Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Togami and Naegi have an important discussion, and both (attempt to) sort out confusing new feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going by what’s in my green notebook. Knowing myself, i’ll probably expand, add, or change bits and pieces as i go along. Not to much of a deviation from what i wrote down, just minor details. 
> 
> No matter how many or few appearances/mentions she may or may not have Celestia won’t die in this story, if i had my way with the game/shows’s script she would have lived. She was one of my favourite characters.
> 
> Turns out Naegami isn’t as popular as i first thought, in terms of amount of fan fictions at least. I’ve run out of fics to read, now I’m sad :(
> 
> In this chapter, my ship sails! Well, its launched at least. I dunno how well i can write fluffy Naegami bonding, because that was what i didn’t plan beforehand. But i love this ship and will do my absolute best.

The next few hours passed without to much incident, the only things that happened was Naegi giving Togami a brief tour of the house, promising to show her everything in a better light the next day (or in a handful hours). 

Naegi showed Togami to her room, and then wished her goodnight before heading to his own.

“Goodnight Celes-chan.”

Togami looked confused for a moment, then remembered that she borrowed her friends name.

“Good night Naegi.”

Naegi POV

As i walked away, i could hear the door shut behind me. Why did Celes-chan look so confused when i said goodnight? Was it something i said while i showed her around? 

She looked slightly uncomfortable during the tour i gave her, was she afraid to be alone in a strangers house? That seemed reasonable, seeing as we didn’t know much about each other beyond exchanging names. She was really cute though.

‘Whoa, where did that come from?’

I was surprised at my own thought. Was i just tired? Yeah, that was probably it. That was also the reason my cheeks were red to. We only just met, there was no way i found her cute.

I decided to lay down and go to sleep. Then i could sort out my weird way of thinking in the morning.

*THE NEXT DAY*

I yawned and stretched, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Even though i had been out late when i met Celes-chan, i felt refreshed and ready for the day. I smiled as i got out of bed.

As i made my way downstairs, i heard the distinct sound of something clinking, presumably on a plate. Did that mean that Celestia was awake before me? Probably, since i had no idea about her usual sleeping habits. 

When i got to the bottom, i couldn’t believe what i saw.

It was Celes, but she looked like an angel.

The sunlight was reflected off her hair, giving her a soft glow. She was sitting at the table in what i had designated as my dining area (which was just outside the kitchen, but no walls separated them).Looking i saw that the clink i must have heard was her placing a teacup onto a saucer she was using, one i had left on the table the previous day. When she picked it back up to have another sip, she moved with grace. She looked relaxed as she stared out of the opposite glass doors (which led to the backyard).

‘Holy cow, I’m really sappy in my thoughts this morning.’ 

I snapped out of my thoughts when i again heard the clink of the teacup. Standing here staring at her would be really creepy, and that was the last impression i wanted to give.

“Good morning, Celes-chan.”

She turned to look at me, and greeted me good morning as well. I sat at the side of the table on her left. 

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, i had an adequate sleep. What about you?”

“Me?”

“No, the fairy on the ceiling… yes you.”

“Hehe, your funny Celes-san. I did sleep well actually.”

Something had been bothering me a bit though. As much as i trusted her, there was something i had to ask.

“Umm… Celes-san?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know how to ask this.. but…?”

“But? Spit it out Naegi, surely you can form a proper sentence.”

“Are… are you a noble Celes-san?”

She froze, shoulders tense and lips in a straight line, on a poker face. The gestures were subtle so i wouldn’t have noticed if i hadn’t already been looking at her.

“What led you to infer that?”

“Well… the way you talk, you use a lot of fancy words.”

“Is that all the evidence you have? How disappointing, anyone with access to books could learn a more advanced vocabulary if they chose to.”

She smirked, and crossed her arms over her chest. It was clear she wanted to challenge me, she was stubborn and wouldn’t provide an explanation without evidence.

‘Think Makoto, think…. got it!’

“Your speech isn’t just large words, its more sophisticated, like you have a high amount of education, something usually only a higher class citizen would have. You use a lot of sarcasm and have this air of superiority, which means your used to being in charge. Last night when i found you, you were lost. A local would at least know the general location or direction of where they’re going, and you didn’t ask for help before i offered assistance as a visitor would have, so you obviously have a substantial amount of pride. Controlling your emotions to the degree you did when i asked you means you have plenty of experience. So unless your a serial killer or something similar, you’d have to be a noble, they need to be controlling their emotions to everyone around them to conceal flaws or weaknesses. All of the leads me to believe you are a higher class citizen, and new to the area.”

She stared at me with one brow raised, but said nothing. After a few seconds, she let out a laugh before her fixing me with a smug look.

‘Wow her laugh is pretty…. No stop that! What am i thinking?’

Luckily i came out of my thoughts just as she started speaking.

“Very well Naegi, i must say you have impressive deduction skills, for a Plebeian.”

“Thank you… i think?”

“No need to thank me. As you have so brilliantly deduced, i am indeed a member of higher status.”

“I just have one more question.”

“What now Naegi?”

I took a deep breath before continuing.

“If you are a noble, then why are you here and not home?”

“… that is none of your business.”

She replied, but then turned her head so she wasn’t looking at me. She must have had a good reason for leaving. Whatever it was, i wasn’t going to push the issue, i was lucky to get the information i had.

“Ok Celes-chan, i won’t push the issue.”

She stared at me with suspicion on her expression.

“Look, you must have had a good reason, so i won’t push the topic. Also, ill keep your identity secret while your here.”

“Why would you do this, without being given a good reason?”

“I told you, you need help and i want to help you.”

“Hmph, i believe I’ve already voiced my opinion on your gullible nature.”

“It’s not being gullible, i’m putting my trust in you.”

“Trust huh? Life is a game Neagi, and trust will only get you so far.”

What? Why would she say such a thing? Surely she can’t have that little faith in humanity. 

“Why would you say such a thing? Hope and trust are both very valuable to people, no matter what status you are.”

She scoffed, though she let out a short chuckle. However, unlike her earlier laugh, she sounded bitter, almost resentful.

“You obviously don’t know a thing about nobility Naegi. Nobles are nothing more then sharks, waiting until you trip and bleed. They pounce on mistakes and judge you for them, the only reason they would continue to associate with you is because of your status and riches. ‘Friends’ are nothing more then glory seekers that get to brag about having your presence.”

“That can’t be right!” I protested. “Surely even you must have at least one friend.”

“Not one that wasn’t paid. I’ve long since given up on having anyone around that is genuinely interested in me.”

She… she’s never had a true friend? She can’t be serious! No wonder she was so cynical about life. I made a resolution right then and there, i would change that. Wether she realised it or not, Celestia Ludenburg was about to gain a friend.

“I want to be your friend Celes-chan!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, how’d i do? Im hoping i did good :)
> 
> Why haven’t i introduced any other characters except for those two? That is also to be addressed, so if your interested, stick around for next chapter.
> 
> Also, regarding the current lack of the fluff. I know some fans would be like ‘make them kiss already!’ but with the plot i have in mind, i can’t rush it. Plus, that would make Togami OOC, he’s a total tsundere and a relationship with him would take at least some time to develop. I mean, its been like a day since they met.
> 
> It WILL happen, it just has to happen at the right pace. Rest assured, it won’t be something ridiculous like 20 chapters before they even so much as confess.


	3. Adjusting Lifestyles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t have much to talk about (wow that’s new haha) so this will be a fairly short authors note. Plus I’m pretty sure you don’t want a mini essay at the ends of each chapter. If i do ramble to much please tell me.
> 
> As always, let me know your thoughts. (Constructive criticism is welcome, but please gently)
> 
> Just ONE important thing i should fill you in on. I have decided that in the story its currently the 1st of February. 
> 
> Naegi’s birthday is on the 5th of February. Togami’s is on the 5th of May. (Info from Danganronpa wiki).

TOGAMI’S POV

“I want to be your friend Celes-chan!”

I looked at the boy in front of me. Was he serious? He couldn’t be, everyone around me tended to stay away because of my less-then-friendly attitude and way of speaking. Even i knew that. But Naegi, i held nothing back, didn’t pull any punches in my speech. Yet, he didn’t seem fazed. Why? Either he was a brilliant actor, or he really was absurdly optimistic and friendly.

“That… wouldn’t be a good idea.”

He looked slightly shocked. Was he really that eager about being friends?

“But.. why not?”

“You wouldn’t like me. That’s why.”

“I think i’d like to decide that for myself Celes.”

“You say that now, but once you get to know me well, i’d be surprised if you still willingly associate with me.”

“You can’t be that bad.”

That confirmed it, this had to be the most naive boy I’ve met.

“People avoid me, and eventually you will to. I’m simply skipping the false hope and eventual break off.”

He looked hurt, but stayed silent. He was joking right? Even if i did allow our friendship, once he found out my identity he would hate me for lying to him. It was a miracle that he seemingly hadn’t heard of or met the real Celestia Ludenburg, but that can only last so long.

“Is that how you cope Celes-san? You’ve been alone for so long, that you push away others to avoid getting hurt.”

A guilt trip? Oh please, been there done that. I was about to turn to walk out of the dining are when he spoke again.

“You seem really lonely, that’s why i want to be your friend. I know i can’t force you, but thats all i want. I just want to see you smile.”

Well, he was persistent id give him that. I didn’t keep friends for a reason. No-one ever tried to befriend me without an ulterior motive. Except for the real Celestia. We had met when she visited me after a gambling tournament. At first i was suspicious of her, but then we bonded over our mutual loneliness of being a noble. People judged us, but we never judged each other. 

I hope she’ll take me borrowing her name well. This would mean i’d have to tell Naegi, to avoid any future awkward explanations should the two ever actually meet. It wasn’t likely, but something would have to be done in that case.

I focused back on him, and he was still looking at me expectantly. I had to admit, his determined face was adorable-Oh no, i did not just think that. You have standards, high standards! Not just gushing over the first commoner that shows you kindness, and one you had only just met!

‘Stop it before you start blushing, a Togami does not blush!’

“I… suppose i could allow our friendship.”

We’ve just met yesterday, and i was holding back blushing? Ridiculous, i just won’t allow it.

Before i knew it, i had a blur of brown and green collide with my chest. I blinked and looked down, only to see Naegi.

“Thank you Celestia! I won’t let you down!”

I can’t even remember the last time someone willing hugged me. Not even the last time someone showed me any sort affection without expecting anything in return. I could feel my cheeks redden slightly, but i quickly beat it down.

I sighed, Naegi didn’t seem to be letting go in a hurry.

‘This commoner will be the death of me.’

NO-ONES POV

After a short amount of time, Naegi finally let go. Once he realised how long he had been hugging he apologised nervously.

“It was tolerable, i guess.”

Naegi could already tell that it was Togami speak for “I actually liked the hug”. He decided not to press his luck, and backed off only a short distance.

“Celes-chan, i have a qustion.”

“Yes?”

“Well, its my birthday in four days, and I’m going out with some friends. Would you like to come with me?”

“And where would we be going, should i agree?”

“All of us are going to a special clearing in the forest we found as kids. It’s like our group hangout spot.”

Until Belinda realised a problem.

“I can’t go Naegi.”

“Why not?”

He looked genuinely upset like a kicked puppy, until Togami explained her reasoning.

“I don’t have commoner clothing Naegi.”

“Ohhh… You don’t?”

“What need would i have for them at home?”

“Ah yes, good point.”

“So how do you propose we fix this? Unless you want to explain this to your friends. As much as I’m sure you trust them, then i’ll have to go back to my home. Right now, i would rather not do that.”

“We could go and buy some clothes for you from the markets. I’m not exactly rich, but i have some money saved up.”

(i do deeply apologise, i seem to be having an era choosing crisis. So I’ve decided i’ll just make it an alternate one)

“Hmm. Very well, we’ll have to make up a name for me.”

“Ohhh yeah, thats a good idea. Any name you like?”

Belinda wanted to laugh at the absurdity. She was disguised as her friend, and would now be her friend disguised as someone else in turn. This was getting ridiculous, but the thought was also very amusing.

“I suppose. Very well, Caitlin Maisano, that should do.” 

“That’s a pretty name Celes-chan.”

“Thank you Naegi. I believe its the second now? I think we should get those ‘clothes’ before your birthday.”

“When do you want to go get them Celes-san?”

“I obviously do not have any plans. Don’t you have work or something else to go to?”

Naegi looked confused for a moment, before realisation struck and his eyes went wide.

“Work! Oh no, I’m late now Asahina’s going to kill me!”

“I assume this ‘Asahina’ is your friend?”

“Yeah, i help her out at a small market shop that sells both fruit and assorted trinkets. I even make small wooden figures to sell.”

“You make wood figures?”

“Hehe, yeah i do. I don’t think they’re that good, but Asahina thinks they’re cute, so do the customers.”

“I see. Naegi?”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to go?”

“But, i can’t leave you alone here.”

“Relax Naegi, i can manage for a few hours.”

“Are you sure? I kinda feel bad for having to leave you.”

“I’ll be fine Naegi, just show me to your library.”

“You like to read Celes-chan?”

“Yes, yes i do. Now show me the way and then hurry up before your fired.”

“Haha, I’m sure Asahina will understand. As you wish Celes-chan, follow me.” 

Naegi then led her upstairs and down the hall to the library he had. It wasn’t very big compared to Togami’s but it was a fair size and still had a lot of books.

“You’ll be alright while I’m at work?”

“I am extremely positive Naegi. Now get moving.”

With that, she wandered the shelves in search of books.

“Goodbye Celes-chan. I’ll be back as soon as i can!”

Naegi called, while dashing out the front door. He locked it and rushed towards the shop. Only one thing ran through his mind.

How was he going to explain Celestia to his friends?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve managed to put the fluffy bonding off again. I’m very sorry! It WILL happen i swear, Naegami is my OTP after all. At least they’re becoming comfortable with each other, i think that’s good progress. :)
> 
> I had to shoe-horn Naegi having a job in there, because a commoner would have to make money somehow. I don’t think he’d be living in his house for free.


	4. Making Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naegi makes plans for his birthday, which includes his new friend 'Celes'. An old friend helps him make some decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am definitely putting KomaHina in as a side pairing, cause i just love them together to much hehe. They’re my second OTP besides Naegami.
> 
> As always, i own nothing. (Otherwise Komaeda x Hinata would be canon)

NAEGI’S POV:

I rushed all the way to the small store, panting and regretting not ever running more before now. God knows I’m not the most athletic boy out there, unlike Asahina who could probably run circles around me.

I finally arrived, out of breath and holding onto the door handle for support as i entered.

“Naegi you here! ‘Bout time!”

There wasn’t much of a uniform, we only had to wear jackets with the store name written on it. I stashed my hoodie under the counter and put the jacket on.

I was still worried about leaving Celes in the house by herself, but she seemed pretty happy among the books, so that at least eased my worries of leaving her there bored to death.

I made my way to where Asahina was, when i was close enough she leaped at me and embraced me in a big bear hug.

“Morning Naegi-kun! Ready for another day?” She asked with a smile.

“Good morning Asahina, did you sleep well?”

“I sure did! I’ve told you lost of times, call me Aoi.” 

“Ok Asa- i mean Aoi-chan, then you call me Makoto.”

“Hmm… ok Mako-kun!”

I laughed, Asahina would never change. She was a bright and energetic girl, but she was one of my closest friends.

As the day went buy, customers came and went, and we helped them all with a smile. Thankfully, our shift ended at just a couple of hours after lunch time, so i had pretty good hours. This job was actually pretty enjoyable. Nice pay, decent hours, and most of the customers were usually pretty friendly.

After our shift ended, Asahina and i went to a nearby cafe to just talk and hang out. I usually had a coffee with as much sugar as i could without drowning the caffeine. Asahina got donuts and a hot chocolate as usual.

(As i mentioned last chapter, i was having a slight era crisis. So really, its anything goes as to what i include)

After a while, i remembered what i had to ask her about.

“Aoi-chan, can i ask you something?”

She looked at me, partially eaten donut halfway to her mouth.

“Yeah sure, something wrong?”

“No no, nothing like that. I just have a friend that id like to bring with us when we celebrate my birthday.”

“But everyone’s already going. Hinata even managed to convince Komaeda to come.”

Ah, yes, Nagito Komaeda and Hajime Hinata. Two members of our large friend group. Komaeda tended to be very skittish around people, but he was slowly coming out of his shell with Hinata’s help. The two boys had been in a relationship for some time now, and they were very happy together.

“No Asahina, i met someone.”

“You met someone?”

“Yeah, i found her a couple of days ago when she was lost at night. She’s staying ay my house for now.”

Asahina stared at me with wide eyes, then to my surprise let out a loud squeal that i had to cover my ears from.

“Oh my god I’m so happy for you! You finally found a girlfriend!”

“Wha… WHAT?! N-no, she’s not my girlfriend, were just friends!”

“Reeeally now? Do you want her to be your girlfriend?”

Naegi promptly choked on his drink.

“I- wha.. me and- but… we only just met two days ago!”

“Mako-kun, have you heard of love at first sight?”

I remember blushing seeing her in my kitchen, but that couldn’t be it right?

“Relax, Mako-kun. Tell me about her, what do you know about her? Start with her name and go from there.”

I spent the next part of the conversation relaying to Asahina what little i had learnt about Celestia, using the fake name she made (and obviously leaving out the nobility part). For the most part, Asahina seemed to be excited to meet her.

“I think you should confess Mako-kun.”

“But i can’t! We only just met remember? Besides, she might not even like me.”

“You said she’s not good with showing her emotions right? I just think she’s either to prideful to confess herself, or she doesn’t know you well enough yet.”

“… you think so?”

“I know so! How do you think i convinced Komaeda to confess to Hinata?”

“You have a point, maybe you should be a matchmaker instead of a store worker Aoi-chan.”

We both laughed at this, and for a minute or two we fell into comfortable silence.

“Mako-kun, don’t confess on your birthday.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“She might just say yes to spare your feelings on your birthday, you might trap her into going out with you. Especially if you ask her in front of the group.”

Right, she had a point there. Forcing Celes’s hand is the last thing i wanted to do. She had a hard enough time trusting people, and i didn’t want her to hate me.

“Your right Aoi-chan. i don’t want her to hate me.”

“Exactly, so wait a few days after your birthday, and then ask her out.”

“But… alright.” 

I gave in with a sigh. Now that Asahina knew i liked Celes, she wouldn’t stop pestering me until i at least confessed. She also wanted to meet her, so i told her that she’d be at the birthday gathering. 

“I’ll tell the others your bringing a guest ok?”

“Alright, thank you Aoi chan. Do you know a good store where i can get girl clothes?”

“Why? Is it for Caitlin?”

“Yes, she doesn’t have many suitable clothes with her, so i wanted to take her to get some tomorrow.”

“Awww, how sweet! Theres this cute little store down the street form here that has pretty good prices, what sort of clothes does she wear?”

“Ummm… what?”

I was lost. I didn’t know a thing about girls or what they wore.

“Your so clueless about women aren’t you? I’ll meet you at the store tomorrow ok?”

“Wait, why?”

“Because silly! She has to have a girl with her to talk about what clothes go with what shoes and colours and all sorts of other things!”

This made me dizzy trying to follow her. On second thought, having her there might be a good idea. I’d have to tell Celes when i got home though.

“Im bringing in Maizono ok? Since caitlin seems like the tomboy type, shell need extra help choosing good outfits.”

“But Aoi-chan…”

No matter what else i said, it was lost to her. She seemed pretty excited on having a girls shopping trip tomorrow. It wouldn’t surprise me if she got most of the girls in our group to come.

After a while of more chatting, we decided to go our separate ways. I was also kinda feeling a bit guilty about leaving Celes a bit longer to talk to Asahina.

Thanks to Asahina, i was at least able to sort out my feelings. I knew i had a crush on Celestia, but did she like me? She might not, after all we’ve known each other for two days. I decided to leave the matter, because like Aoi said, it wouldn’t be a good idea to confess and trap her just because it was my birthday.

I made my way home, and opened the door.

“Celes-san?”

I called, but received no answer. I assumed she was still in the library so i closed the door and headed there.

Sure enough, there she was. Perched on a chair in the far corner. A cup of tea was placed on the side table, with a few other books stacked next to it. She seemed entirely focused on the book on her lap, so i decided to start making dinner.

As i prepared it, my mind kept going back to my earlier conversation with Asahina. Did i really like Celestia, despite knowing her for two days?

The answer? Yes, yes i did.

Living with her was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how did i do? Hopefully good :)
> 
> I swear to god, i just keep expanding things until I’ve used a whole chapter before I’ve even realised it. Not that thats a bad thing, it just means more chapter then i first predicted.
> 
> Anything I’m doing wrong or could be doing better, let me know. Feedback is always appreciated.


	5. Shakespeare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things just keep happening. Like, i did even PLAN this ‘shopping trip’ my brain just came up with it out of nowhere.
> 
> I just can’t prevent KomaHina can i? Haha I’m sorry i ship them as well. I might mention some side pairings here and there, but the main focus will be Naegami.
> 
> All foreign languages used are courtesy of good old google translate, so if anyone has correction feel free, but please nicely.

NAEGI POV:

I served dinner, which was just a simple meal since i’d have to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Celestia seemed reluctant to eat it at first, but after some soft pleading she appeared to find it at least edible. After knowing that standard of food she must be used to, to have her (reluctantly) admit she liked it made me happy.

After i cleared there dishes, i decided to bring up the subject of tomorrow’s shopping trip.

“Celes?”

“Yes Naegi?”

“I may or may not have umm…. told Asahina you were here and you needed new clothes tomorrow?”

“You better have used my fake identity and name.”

“Of course i did!”

“Then i fail to see how this will displease me. Surely you aren’t ashamed of being my friend.”

“No, it’s not that…”

“Then what? Stop beating around the bush and spit it out.”

“Well, I’m afraid she might do something drastic.”

“Such as?”

“Such as… invite the majority, if not all, of the girls in our friend group?”

“Hmph. Fine.”

“Your okay with it?”

“If I am going to stay here, i will at least have to be civil with your friends correct? And it’s not like i can stay cooped up in this house forever.”

She had a point there. Besides, i’d feel terrible about constantly leaving her to go to work and hang out with friends. 

I later found myself in the library with her. I had asked if i could keep her company and read alongside her, she didn’t say no, so i took it as a yes and went to search for a book.

Which takes us to present time. Despite it being my own library, i somehow managed to find myself surrounded by shelves with unfamiliar writing. Why i even had so many books in languages i didn’t know was beyond me. I picked a book at random.

“Romeo et Juliette? So… that means Romeo and Juliet. But what is it written in?”

“It’s Shakespeare, you ignorant fool.”

I almost jumped out of my skin when i heard that. I turned around and out of nowhere, Celestia was somehow behind me. Long hair flowing down her back, arms crossed, and a frown on her face.

“How did you find me Celes-chan?”

“I came to see what was taking you so long. Did you seriously get lost in your own library?”

“Umm… no?”

I let out a nervous laugh as she stared at me, unimpressed. Her gaze then trailed to the book i just realised was still in my hands. 

“Is Shakespeare really that alien to you? Honestly, i thought even a commoner like you would be somewhat intelligent.”

I flipped open a page, and no matter how hard i tried i couldn’t make sense of a single word.

“But look Celes, it’s written in some other language i can’t understand!”

“Really, is that so? If it’s just in english, i will have serious doubts about your mental capacity.”

She held out an expectant hand. I closed the book and placed the book in her grasp, and after adjusting her glasses she opened it and flipped randomly through a few pages. Then she looked back up at me.

“French.”

“Huh?”

“It’s written in French, you dunce.”

“Ohhhh…. i don’t know French.”

“Evidently. Come, i shall teach you.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I am offering to teach you a foreign language Naegi. Surely you can’t be this ignorant.”

“No, i was just surprised. You’d do that for me?”

“Don’t get any ideas Naegi, i normally don’t do this for anyone.”

With that she turned on her heel and started walking away. After a moment of two, i shook my head and hurriedly followed. She would really do that, for me?

I followed with a goofy grin on my face.

After arriving back at the chair she sat in, which was a large double seat, instead of in the middle like last time she sat to one side. I gingerly sat down next to her, making sure to leave some space, so as to not make her uncomfortable.

“Sit closer Naegi.”

“I thought you’d be uncomfortable with me so close.”

“I cannot teach with you so far away, come closer idiot.”

I inched closer, until our legs were touching. She gave no indication of discomfort so i figured that was alright. Celes opened to the first page, then placed it in the middle so that it was across both of our laps.

“Are you ready?”

“I guess so?”

“Close enough, now read the first sentence.”

“What? Read the whole sentence?”

“Just do it.”

I tried, i really did. But i stumbled and hesitated though the whole thing.

“Deux menages, a la fois semblables dans la dignité.”

“Two households, both alike in dignity.”

The whole evening i spent with her. Just sitting there and attempting to read French, while she translated it for me.

She occasionally read the sentence in French as well as english. The way her voice sounded, the way the language rolled off her tongue as she spoke… i couldn’t help but stare at her face as she concentrated.

Oh boy, i can’t be anything but sappy can i? It was only a matter of time before i blurted my crush out like an idiot. But for now, we just bonded and grew a bit closer as friends, over shakespeare no less.

We sat there together, just reading with each other into the late hours of the night. I didn’t even notice when i fell asleep.

TOGAMI’S POV:

As i was reading, i felt a sudden pressure against my shoulder. When i looked, i saw that Naegi had fallen asleep. 

I sighed, he couldn’t pay attention to a simple lesson could he? To be fair, even i had to admit it was late, and his sleeping face almost looked… cute.

No woman, stop those thoughts! This boy is only providing a place to hide, nothing more!

This… commoner, was confusing me. Why does he so blindly trust me, and expect nothing in return? Surely i couldn’t be developing any sort of feelings for this boy. How absurd.

I would have to deal with his friends tomorrow. I usually hated the idea of dealing with people that would inevitably annoy me, but i suppose i had to if i wanted to blend in. At worst, it would be a simple test of tolerating irritating commoners, at best it would mean making more friends. I highly doubted the latter would happen.

I eased Naegi off of my shoulder, and he just collapsed backwards and laid his head back. I huffed in irritation, there was only one thing i could do.

I picked him up bridal style. He was short enough to do so, so why not? It was easier anyway. 

I slowly navigated my way to his room, with no shortage of complaining on my part. The whole way there, he had his arms wrapped around my neck, and leaned his head into my chest. He looked absurdly comfortable, I’m not a human pillow!

I looked down at his face. He looked so innocent in his sleep. I thought it was impossible for him, and yet he managed.

I sighed, irritated with myself. Just what was this commoner doing to me?

I finally put him down to sleep, still wearing his clothes. I placed the covers over him and left.

Well, tomorrow was going to be interesting. My first day with normal people that didn’t want money or bragging rights. With girls no less.

Yes, very interesting indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say that i haven’t already addressed. So this note will be short. So, until next time readers! :D


	6. What is Fashion?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shopping trip happens, but Kirigiri and Togami have a serious talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Booyah! I am AMAAAAAZING!
> 
> Hahaha sorry bout that, just feeling in a really good mood right now. Everything is good right now and I’m feeling content.
> 
> Just one thing, i have no idea when this story is set, so its anything goes with the clothing. Technology and currency will be limited though. Like i said, no era specifics.
> 
> I will say this now. I am a tomboy and i have no idea how typical girls work/think, or anything about fashion.
> 
> In other news, well, there IS no other news. Everything is good and I’m feeling awesome.
> 
> Have fun reading about my favourite couple.

NAEGI’S POV:

As i woke up the next morning, i was confused. The last thing i remembered was reading with Celestia in the library. 

Oh no, did i fall asleep? I remembered my head resting on something soft, was that… oh no. Did i fall asleep on her? If so, how did i get back in bed? Celes didn’t carry me did she? I was torn between feeling grateful and embarrassed.

I got dressed and left my room. I then went to check where Celestia was. She was once again, sitting at the table with a cup of tea. So it looked like she was an early riser after all.

She looked so at peace, just sitting there. Dear god i have to stop being so sappy.

“Good morning Naegi.”

“Good morning Celes-san. Are you ready for today?”

“If i must.”

“I thought you wanted new clothes?”

“I believe we’ve been over how many friends I’ve had Naegi.”

“But these girls don’t even know who you are, so they can’t judge you for being rich. Besides, they’re all very trustworthy people.”

“You’ve seen enough of my personality Naegi, do you really think your friends will tolerate me?”

“Of course i do!”

“*Sigh* There is one other problem Naegi.”

“Huh, but were already taking you out for clothes.”

“Yes, but what am i going to wear TO get new clothes?”

“What do you mean Celes?”

“All of the few clothes i have are not suited for commoners. I have nothing common in my possession.”

Ohhhhh. That would be a problem. Until i thought of something.

“You can borrow one of my sisters dresses.”

She looked confused, then gave me a glare so cold i could swear i was about to turn into an icicle. I think i even shivered.

“Why exactly have you not mentioned having any family until now?”

Oh. That. That may or may not have slipped my mind until now. When she started tapping her foot impatiently, still giving me that icy glare. 

“Well, there’s not much to tell. There’s just, me, my mother, my father, and my younger sister Komaru. We don’t have any other close relatives. We don’t have a lot of money, so i moved out here ages ago to get a better education.”

“I see. So your sister left clothes here?”

“Well, not many. But she may have left something that will fit you.”

“… i suppose it will have to do. Show me to the clothes then.”

I showed her up to the room that my sister had stayed in last. It took me a while to remember, but once i did it was a short trip to the room we needed. 

Komaru left more then i thought, but not much. Just a small pile of scattered articles. 

“Hehe, its not much Celes-chan, but i think these will fit you.”

She walked over to the pile, and started sorting through the clothes, obviously used to far more expensive styles. Eventually she picked out a simple dress, dark green and the skirt going down to just above her ankles. And a pair of my sister’s navy flat shoes.

I left the room while she got changed, but came in when i heard my name. 

“Naegi.”

“Uhh… yes?”

“You may come back in.”

I entered, and she was wearing the dress and shoes she had picked out. What confused me is why she was wearing one of Komaru’s loose fitting jackets over it, it looked to be fairly good weather outside.

“What’s with the jacket Celes?”

She looked uncomfortable, and looked at nothing to my right.

“Your sister has a smaller chest the i do.”

I could feel my face heat up to my ears. But then i heard a knock at the door.

“That must be Asahina! I’ll go get it!”

I raced downstairs. When i opened the door, sure enough it was Aoi and a few of the other girls. Aoi had decided to meet her at my house instead, i decided not to question it.

“Hey Mako-kun! Is Caitlin ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready, Asahina was it?”

I didn’t even notice that Celes had appeared behind me. She walked forward and extended a hand towards Aoi.

“Caitlin Maisano. Nice to meet you.”

Asahina took the hand, but i wasn’t at all surprised by what happened next. Instead of shaking it, she tugged Celes forward until she brought her into a big bear hug.

“It’s soooo nice to meet you! As you know, i am Aoi Asahina, and these are only a few of the girls that will be joining us today.”

I remembered that i had to grocery shopping. 

“Caitlin, i have to go grocery shopping, so I’m taking a different path. Asahina, take care of her ok?”

“Will do Mako-kun!”

“I’ll be fine Naegi, go buy your food.”

And with that, i left to go do my shopping.

TOGAMI’S POV:

After Naegi had left, i found myself left alone with five girls, including Asahina.

“Girls, this is Mako-kun’s new friend and guest, Caitlin-chan. Introduce yourselves one at a time ok?”

All four nodded. Then the one on the far left spoke. This one had long blonde hair and a short green dress, overall she looked quite dainty.

“I am Sonia Nevermind. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

We shook hands, then the next one introduced herself. This one had long black hair with pink, blue and white streaks. There were also two horns of hair on top of her hair.

“I” “Buki” “Mio” Da!” “Put it together and what do you get? Ibuki Mioda! Nice to meetcha Katy-chan!”

This one was certainly energetic, that was for sure. She also hugged me (i still wasn’t used to people hugging me), and then skipped back to where she was standing before.

Then was the one next to her introduced herself. 

“Hello, i’m Sayaka Maizono. Nice to meet you.”

She gave me a bright smile, and I could tell right away that she was one of the more typical girly girls. The complete opposite of me. The last one introduced herself, standing to the right of Maizono. Long pale hair, purple themed outfit and a stoic expression.

“Kyoko Kirigiri, a pleasure Caitlin.”

As in the Kirigiri family of detectives? Now i have to watch what i say even further then i already do.

We made our way to the shops, me hanging back slightly. The girls made happy conversation while i just stayed silent, having no idea what to say or do, i didn’t like not knowing what to do.

“Your out of your depth, aren’t you?”

I turned my head, and saw Kirigiri calmly strolling besides me.

“What of it? I never had friends.”

“I see. Your not one for talking either are you?

“What was your first clue?” I asked sarcastically.

“Clearly not one for frequent social interaction huh?”

“And you care why? You have no obligation to.”

“And clearly raised in conditions that cause you to not trust easily.”

“Hmph, as expected in the next in line for the Kirigiri line of detectives.”

She gave me an odd look, then her face returned to calm before she spoke.

“How do you know that Caitlin? Or is that even your real name?”

“What?! of course it is!”

Luckily the others were to far ahead and to far absorbed in their conversation that they couldn’t hear us.

“Only certain people know of the my real identity, not just anyone would have met me in person and know who i am.” 

“As far as i know, your group of friends know your a detective.”

“The others know i am a detective, but are not aware of my national reputation.”

Well shit, i never make mistakes like this. Now the entire secret could be blown.

“I will keep your secret Togami, on one condition.”

“Now you listen! I am not-“

“It was simple to figure out, you show up on the same day that the heir goes missing, and from what i can tell so far, you seem to have exactly the same personality. Do you have any objections?”

I sighed in annoyance. She was always around the estate when i was little, frequent visits to solve one mystery or another. I don’t know if we classified as friends, but i respected her. She wasn’t a master detective for nothing.

“Very well, you have me.”

“You have to tell the others, especially Makoto, you know that right?”

“I don’t want him to find out if he doesn’t have to.”

“We’ll talk about that later. I have something else to discuss with you.”

“What would that be?”

Kirigiri opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a hyper Ibuki.

“WERE HERE GUYS! IBUKI IS SO EXCITED!”

I looked up, and indeed we were at our destination. A huge cluster of shops selling a variety of items. Ibuki immediately dragged away the other girls, blabbing on about something to do with skirts, not before shouting over her shoulder to meet them in the food court. This just left me and Kirigiri.

“Shall we find a seat?”

“I suppose that would be an appropriate course of action.”

We walked to the food court, and sat at a table. Kirigiri looked troubled, so whatever she had to say must of been serious.

“What is this business you speak of Kirigiri?”

“Your uncle has covered up your disappearance.”

Despite myself, my jaw dropped. Just what was my uncle doing?!

“What?!”

“He’s claimed you are visiting a childhood friend, and that you will be returning by your birthday.”

“…This means he’s looking for me. Do you know how?”

“For now, he can’t do much without raising attention. So i suspect there will be increased patrols and more guards, no doubt with a prepared excuse.”

“Just great, the fool won’t leave me alone will he?”

“I will investigate the matter further. For now, you should at least tell Naegi.”

“I will do no such thing! He does not need to know!”

He doesn’t need to know I’ve lied to him, he’ll definitely hate me then. Kirigiri fixed me with a look i couldn’t place, then sighed.

“Very well.”

After a few moment of awkward silence, both girls made polite small talk, and despite Togami’s reluctance she could almost say they were on the way to becoming friends. Today might not be so bad after all. Maybe.

Soon after that, the other three girls returned, chatting loudly and laughing. 

“What were you girls up to?” Asahina asked.

I locked eyes with Kirigiri, and we both came to a silent agreement. Now is not the time to tell anyone what we just talked about.

“Nothing of life-changing importance Aoi.” Kirigiri replied.

The rest of the afternoon passed without incident. I made friends with all of them with despite my initial reluctance, but i had the sneaking suspicion that Maizono wasn’t to fond of me. She was polite and talked to me happily, but i could easily recognise when someone faked liking me.

NO-ONE’S POV

At first the others were a bit put off by Togami’s bluntness and way of speaking, but by the time the afternoon ended they came to accept it. They bought her several new outfits (to which she initially tried to protest) and even offered to help her carry all of it home.

The day turned out to be better then what she expected.

When she walked through the door, she announced her arrival, and Naegi respond in kind. She found him in the kitchen working on dinner.

“Did you have a good day Celes-chan?” He asked, a bright smile on his face.

“It wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be.”

“Well thats good. Take a seat, dinner should be ready soon.”

For once in her life, Togami had never felt so guilty about lying to someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry about skipping most of the shopping trip, i might come back to it later. But i just had no clue how i wanted to write it, if i get time later ill come back to it.
> 
> So, the next day will be Naegi’s birthday huh? I’m excited, but nervous cause I’m not sure how I’m going to go about writing it yet. The next chapter will come soon :)


	7. Celebration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Naegi's birthday, and the gang celebrates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know i kinda glossed over Togami meeting the other girls, but as i said last chapter i might come back to that later and put in a extra chapter to address that. For now, however, i’ll focus on the plot.
> 
> I keep dragging out the fluff, but at least they’ve been bonding. I don’t want to drag it out for TO long, cause then people (including me) get impatient. It will come very soon.
> 
> I’ve been thinking about speeding it up a bit after Naegi’s birthday, but if i do the time skip won’t be that big, a few months at most. So wish me luck and comment you opinion on this story.
> 
> ATTENTION TO ALL READERS:   
> For the time being, i will put in some of my own shippings, if i get any requests, i will go back later and see what i can do about it. But please do NOT start a ship war. I can only write so many pairing ok? I respect all shippings.

When Togami woke up the next day, she wasn’t surprised to find that Naegi was still asleep.

“Heh, the fool would probably sleep through the end of the world.” She grumbled. He was kind and adorabl-

No. She still didn’t want to admit to herself that she might be falling for Naegi, so she promptly heavily squashed any and all feelings to do with that subject. She did however, think he deserved a birthday present. Togami pondered what to give him as she got dressed in one of her new outfits.   
But the problem was, what to give him? She eventually decided on making him breakfast. This was a fine idea, until she got to the kitchen, and realised something.

She didn’t know how to cook.

She had seen chefs back at the estate preparing meals, but had never attempted to cook anything herself. Thus, she was standing in the kitchen, looking frustrated and completely lost.

“The idiot better appreciate this.” Togami grumbled. Despite not knowing hot to cook, she managed to find bacon and eggs, and decided that it would just have to do. So, after a brief struggle to turn on the stove, she managed to fry both the eggs and the bacon with moderate success. She may or may not have slightly burnt the bacon, but it was to late now.

After finding the dishes, cutlery, and the tray, she set off up the stairs. She normally didn’t do these sorts of things, but she allowed herself to make an exception.

She traveled up the stairs, and then slowly made her way to Naegi’s room. Togami opened the door, only to find that Makoto was still sleeping. She walked to his bedside and announced her presence.

“Good morning, imbecile.”

She watched in slight amusement (purposely ignoring how adorable his sleepy face looked), as he groaned and turned over and nuzzled even further under the covers.

“I hope you are not planning on sleeping through your own birthday.”

The brunette shifted and grumbled some more, until registering what Togami said.

“Wait what?! Thats today?” 

He bolted upright, even though he was now in a sitting position, he looked like he might fall back any moment, eyes already shutting again.

“Sit up moron, it’s time for breakfast.”

Naegi’s eyes opened a fraction, then widened considerably when he saw the tray still in Belinda’s hands.

“Happy birthday Makoto.”

“Did… did you make that for me?”

She rolled her eyes. “No, it was the invisible maid that’s been prancing around behind me… of course i did it.”

“Thank you Celes-san.” He said as he moved back to sit against the headboard, and she placed the tray on his lap.

Belinda scoffed. “Don’t get any ideas boy, this is simply a birthday present. I don’t do this for just anyone.”

“I know, but that makes this even more special. I’ve already said it, but… thank you Celes-san.”

The brunette gave off a bright smile, and the (kind of) blonde’s face went red.

“No need to get so worked up, its only a very basic meal.”

She then made her way to the door as fast as she could walk. But after reaching it, paused with one hand on the handle.

“But… your welcome.”

She shut the door quickly, but he could see her face redden even further, as it slammed she hurried down the hall to get ready for the day.

Makoto chuckled to to himself, and started eating.

Both of them ate their breakfast separately, and got dressed for the day. Both of them dressing in nice but casual clothes since they wanted to look good, but they were only meeting in a clearing for the party.

They made their way to the clearing together, making small conversation. All the while, Togami was her usual sarcastic and blunt self, but as usual Makoto didn’t seem to be fazed.

When they got there, everyone was there before them. Some of the stronger in the group had brought some tables for the food and presents (not to mention seats for everyone), and also chairs.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAKOTO!”

Everyone shouted unanimously, making the boy in question jump from the sheer volume of the combined voices.

When everyone finally calmed down, both Naegi and Togami were directed to the centre table. Togami suspected Asahina had something to with it, but she just smiled (too) innocently and started a conversation with her boyfriend Hagakure.

From there, the day only got better.

Twins Chihiro and Chiaki were hanging out with their respective partners. Chihiro was dating biker Mondo Owada, while Chiaki held affections for Mikan Tsumiki, a nurse.  
_________________________________________________

There were many other couples among the friend group, and while they could all be explained, i shall list them now so i don’t waste an entire chapter just on the guest list.

\- Hajime Hinata x Nagito Komaeda   
\- Chihiro Fujisaki x Mondo Oowada  
\- Chiaki Nanami x Mikan Tsumiki  
\- Ibuki Mioda x Kazuichi Soda  
\- Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu x Peko Pekoyama  
\- Sayaka Maizono x Leon Kuwata  
\- Gundham Tanaka x Sonia Nevermind  
\- Akane Owari x Nidai Nekomaru  
\- Hiyoko Saionji x Mahiru Koizumi  
\- Aoi Asahina x Yasuhiro Hagakure  
\- Komaru Naegi x Toko Fukawa

[*Any characters not mentioned either don’t have a pairing decided or are needed for the plot later*]

_________________________________________________

Everyone laughed, ate, and bonded throughout the day. Togami rarely left Makoto’s side (which he found oddly endearing), but when she did she even surprised herself by making civil conversation with everyone. And dare she say it, she made new friends, which she thought would never happen, given her general personality.

Previously, she thought she didn’t care. But after spending time with Makoto, she was starting to soften a bit, though she was reluctant to admit it.

Even Makoto’s sister had managed to attend. Togami found Komaru Naegi to be a sweet girl, kind and friendly. When she found out that Makoto’s sister was dating the novelist Toko Fukawa, she was mildly surprised, but otherwise indifferent. Sexuality made no difference, a human being was still a human being, regardless of who they loved.

All in all, Komaru seemed to be a female version of Makoto. There were some differences, but overall they were quite similar, no matter how much both siblings protested otherwise.

However, Togami made sure to stay well away from Fukawa. Though Komaru did a good job at occupying her girlfriend, Belinda couldn’t shake the suspicion that the author was following her.

As day turned to evening, Makoto was sat in a chair in front of the presents table. Togami was next to him, despite her usual demeanour she couldn’t help but unconsciously smile in the brunette’s presence. The majority of people there could see their mutual affections, and those who didn’t were quietly informed.

Makoto never failed to thank any of his friends for the presents he received. Even if some were a bit… much, he always smiled. He was unsure about the topic of the book Fukawa gave him, as much as they were friends, he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know.

Although she didnt hear it, Kirigiri at one point had a conversation with Makoto about Togami and why she left ’to see her old friend’, with Togami’s cover kept of course. The irony was that while Makoto had expressed his desire to help her should she need it, he already was helping her. Kirigiri personally found this amusing, but decided not to comment on it.

As the day came to an end, everyone said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. Promises to meet up and hang out were made.

Makoto and Togami made their way home together, exchanging small talk once again. Belinda offered to help her companion store the new presents, and Makoto agreed. After this was done, they only had a small dinner due to all the food at the party.

As they both lay in their beds that night, they wondered how it was possible for them to have strong feelings after the short time they’ve known each other. Both of them wanted to tell the other, but held back for different reasons. Neither could deny the fact anymore. They both had feelings for each other. 

It was only a matter of time before one of them confessed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, i know. After all the buildup, you were probably expecting a lot more to be written about Naegi’s birthday right? I’m sorry about that. Like the shopping trip, if people want i will come back to it once the main plot is complete.
> 
> As for the Fukawa x Komaru shipping. After watching NicoB play “Danganronpa: Another Episode”, i ship them to hell and back, they’re just so cute together.
> 
> I thought of a reeeeeeally good plot to a Multi-chapter Komahina (Komaeda x Hinata) story, but i can’t start writing it yet. Because i’ll get distracted and lose motivation for THIS story, and i won’t let that happen. I’ll start that story when i finish this one.
> 
> I love you all for reading this, have a great day everyone :)


	8. Chocolate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asahina helps Togami realise something, and Naegi is shy and adorable as ever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEEEEY! How’s it going readers? Hope your days been awesome. :)
> 
> Soooo… not much i have to say. Only that I’m in a pretty good mood today! So let’s get this show on the road :)
> 
> I was going to skip the next few months in the story, but then i saw an opportunity and decided to use it. If you don’t know what i mean, it should become obvious when you read the chapter.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think.

A week and a few days had passed with no consequence. Togami hung out with the girls occasionally (Sometimes she was dragged by Asahina), and Makoto was nice and naive as ever. Kirigiri repeatedly told Togami to tell Naegi who she really was, but she was still being stubborn about not wanting Naegi to hate her for deceiving him. 

Speaking of Makoto, the boy had become increasingly nervous around her as the week went by, Togami attempted to ask him why, but he dodged the question and denied it. However, Makoto Naegi was a terrible liar, so she knew something was bothering him, she just didn’t know what. Not knowing annoyed her.

It was a miracle that the real Celestia Ludenburg hadn’t come back yet, and she was starting to suspect that Kirigiri had something to do with it. But Kirigiri gave nothing away that confirmed or denied this, so even though it irritated Togami, she dropped the subject.

Finally, the thirteenth arrived. Togami found herself hanging out with just Asahina at a local cafe. Even though the two were vastly different in looks and personality, the got along pretty well.

“Do you know what tomorrow is Caitlin?”

“No. should i?”

Asahina stared at her like she just dropped from another planet. Quite frankly it unnerved Togami, but she kept a blank look on her face.

“Whats with the look? Do you lack the intelligence to speak?”

“It’s VALENTINES DAY tomorrow! Do you know what that means?”

“An astounding amount of commoners are going to be disgustingly affectionate and sappy with each other all day, all the while spouting cliche phrases and giving cheap gifts.”

This shocked Aoi. Was Caitlin really that bitter about Valentines day? Well, with her being cynical like she is it really shouldn’t have been surprising. But Aoi thought that everyone deserved to find someone that makes them happy.

“No, no, no, Caitlin, valentines day is a day for romance and celebrating with your special someone. It’s about appreciating what you have while you still have it. It’s about being grateful to have someone that cares about you as much as you care about them.”

“Well, that’s a way to sugar-coat it.”

“My point is, its a perfect day to confess to a certain someone, wouldn’t you agree?”

Togami knew very well what she was implying, but didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“Tch. Who could i possibly-“

“We’ve all seen the way you look at Makoto. It’s quite obvious.”

Though she tried to hide it, Asahina could see the faint red on her cheeks. She thought Caitlin and Makoto would look so cute together, she silently vowed that she would do what she could to get them together.

“What about a present?”

“Excuse me?”

“You could get Makoto a present!”

“…Like what, pray tell?”

Asahina grinned. She wasn’t denying her feelings anymore. And with that frown on her face, she guessed that Caitlin realised her un-intended admission.

“Make him some chocolate!”

“That is a ridiculous cliche, i would not-“

“No, if you make them yourself, then that makes them special. You wouldn’t settle for giving Makoto just ordinary chocolates would you?”

Togami smirked. “You have a point.”

Asahina had to hide the wide grin that threatened to spread across her face. 

“I’ll help you! Come on!”

Without another word, Asahina dragged Togami out of the cafe doors. This was a rare opportunity to do this kind of thing with Caitlin, and by god Asahina was going to take it.

They finally arrived at their destination, a chocolate shop a few streets away from the cafe. Togami was slightly out of breath, since she usually never ran at all, Asahina on the other hand, hardly looked affected at all. The man behind the counter let them through with a smile, Asahina thanking him, and Togami looking confused.

As they entered the back room, Togami asked Asahina how she knew the man at the counter.

“Oh him? He was an old friend of my parents?”

“I see, and where are your parents now?”

A sad smile came to the girl’s face.

“They… passed a few years ago.”

“I see, my condolences.”

“Thanks Caitlin-chan. I’ve been struggling ever since, but i with Hagakure’s help i manage.”

“That’s nice of him, care to make some chocolate Asahina?” 

Asahina had to smile, though it was blunt, she appreciated the effort to distract her from thinking about her parents.

They gathered all the ingredients necessary for truffles. Well, Asahina gathered most of them, while Togami was lost to where everything was so she just let the other handle it.

Then came the recepie, Asahina read out the instructions, and helped where necessary. (In other words, whenever Togami didn’t know how to something and wouldn’t admit it, the other girl stepped in with a smile).

“1- Place the butter and chocolate in a medium sized bow.”

“Done.”

“2- Heat the mixture while stirring until the chocolate melts”

This went of for a total of five steps. Once completed the chocolates were dusted with sifted cocoa. 

Once completed and allowed to set, they chocolates produced were placed in a fancy box for storage. Asahina tied the bow, and handed the box gently to Togami.

“Now Caitlin, the chocolates will be good for a while, but they won’t stay that way forever. I suggest you give them to Makoto, and soon.”

“I… thank you.”

“Wait, what?”

“I said thank you!”

Togami crossed her arms, looking away from Asahina. She adjusted her glasses before speaking again.

“You have provided adequate assistance, and for that i thank you.” 

Instead of being offended, Asahina was somewhat used to Togami’s way of speaking. So instead she merely giggled, and started to make her way out of the kitchen, and back to the counter.

“Come on Caitlin-chan, lets get you home eh? But be sure to hide those chocolates.”

Togami nodded in agreement, and the two girls made their way out of the shop. Even though it was Asahina doing most of the actual talking, they made small talk until the pair reached Naegi’s home.

“Good bye Caitlin-chan. Good luck tomorrow.” She smiled.

“Thank you Asahina. Your assistance was appreciated.”

After she left. Togami was greeted by Naegi, in the kitchen and well into making dinner. 

She didn’t want to admit it, even to herself. But this commoner, this boy, was having more of an effect on her then she had planned. But for some strange reason, she found that she didn’t mind all that much. As Naegi cooked, she kept her gaze on the boy, wondering if he had been skittish around her (and only her) for the reason she was suspecting.

Tomorrow would tell her if she was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you can probably guess what ‘opportunity’ i saw huh? I’m not going to rush things, but i can finally start the actual shipping, at least a little. Togami is such a tsundere. It’s fun writing him (or her in this case) in such denial. But, now comes the inevitable acceptance.
> 
> PS. I got the chocolate recipe from the internet.
> 
> I really hope i haven’t rushed things, so let me know your thoughts and opinions. :)


	9. Kirigiri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new perspective is shown, and the Drama starts to heat up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! i bring you another installment of Heiress and the Commoner. 
> 
> Dear god I’m terrible, i though of something to do at the end, so I wrote a scene i want to happen. I’m kind of annoyed at myself, but i couldn’t stop myself writing it haha XD.
> 
> I thought of something different to do, as i probably should in fact use characters other then Togami and Naegi once in a while.
> 
> Anyways, as always let me know what you think.

While all was well and good with our favourite couple and their friends, it was not so good elsewhere. Back in Belinda’s home at the Togami estate, the situation was quite different. Unknown to most inside and out the estate walls, a hidden Tyrant roamed the halls, a tyrant that did not take kindly to failure.

To put it simply, Richard Togami was furious.

“What do you mean you haven’t found her yet?!” He hissed. His evening was not going well.

The sun had long gone down, and Richard was relaxing with a nice glass of wine. He was in a good mood, until now that is. The Captain of the guards, the poor current victim of the other man’s rage, was terrified.

“W-we’ve looked everywhere sir, but there’s no sign of-“

“ENOUGH! I want guard patrols increased immediately!”

“Y-yes sir! Right away”

“And remember! No-one else outside the estate grounds is to know about this or else! Got it!?”

“Understood sir!”

The Captain of the guard saluted hastily, and immediately ran out as quick as he could, glad to be away from Richard and his temper. Richard could faintly hear the captain start to deliver orders, but otherwise paid no attention to it as the noise faded.

He sighed in annoyance.

“I’m surrounded by idiots.”

His wife had been feeble from the beginning of their time together. A weak woman that he was obligated to marry due to an pre-determined arrangement. However, now he had someone far better in mind, a far worthier bride who he had his sights on. His plan was running smoothly. It was so close to succeeding, so close that he could almost taste victory. 

But then Belinda, his own niece, had ran away.

She was a key part in his plan, albeit unknowingly. She would be a difficult one to control with her stubborn and icy, un-movable nature, but if all went well even she would be under his control.

He looked at a locked box on the table to his left, and grinned to himself remembering the document inside. A special document that would seal his success, but only with the right signature. For that, he needed have the right person. If his plan succeeded, that person would be arriving very soon.

A knock sounded at the door.

“What is it?” He called.

A guard (that wasn’t the captain) stepped in.

“My apologies for intruding sir.”

Richard waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s fine boy, now what did you need?”

The guard hesitated before speaking.

“The captain would like your approval on the plans to increase patrols sir.”

“Hmm, does he? Very well, tell him i shall be there soon. After that return to your duties.”

“Understood sir.”

The guard turned to leave, and started down the hall.

“Wait a moment.”

The guard froze, and turned to face the older man. 

“Have i seen you before? Your features don’t look very familiar.”

“I am a new recruit sir, i haven’t been here for very long.”

“… I see. Return to your duties boy.”

“Yes Togami sir.”

This time, Richard didn’t stop the boy from going down the hall, and watched as they turned around the corner. He chuckled to himself before leaving the room in the opposite direction.

“Soon, very soon Belinda, we shall have a very special family re-union.”

Meanwhile, the guard that spoke to Richard was looking very nervous. They continued down the hall they were walking and seeing their target, began approaching a cloaked figure.

“I did what you asked Kirigiri, Richard Togami is sufficiently distracted for you to sneak in.”

The cloaked figure lowered their hood, revealing the detective’s face. She stared blankly as the guard started to take off his helmet.

“Thank you very much Hinata. You were a great help in this investigation.”

“It was the least i could do.”

The boy in question then fully removed his helmet. Eyes darting around nervously.

“I don’t like this Kirigiri, it was too easy to get in. I feel like Richard Togami believed me to easily, this could be dangerous.”

“It’s okay Hinata, your part in this operation is over. Go home to Komaeda while you can.”

Hinata looked like he was considering it, but then shook his head.

“I can’t just leave you here alone. I’ll explain this to Nagito later.”

She sighed at her companion.

“If you insist. Follow me.”

The two made their way back to the room that the man had left, and snuck inside. Once their, Kirigiri instantly spotted the locked box on the desk, and instantly walked over to inspect it. Hinata following while looking behind them paranoid the whole time. 

“Hurry Kirigiri, i don’t know how much time that bluff will buy us.”

Said girl was busy picking the lock. Hinata sighed and went to watch the door. Kyoko was still trying to open the lock, and almost had it open.

“Uhh… Kirigiri?”

Silence.

“Kirigiri we need to leave.”

Finally! The box was open.

“Kirigiri, I’m serious! Time’s up!”

She began scanning the contents of the document she found.

“Come on already!”

The detective’s eyes widened. This document could cause a lot of trouble for one of her friends.

Kirigiri run! They’re her- agh!”

The girl in question froze, then quickly regained her senses and whipped around to see what was happening.

They were in deep trouble.

Several guards had Hinata surrounded. He was struggling to stay conscious, the sword he was carrying now pointed at his neck. His arms were restrained behind his back, and there was a bleeding wound on the side of his head. 

Standing by the doorway, looking very smug, was the very man she was investigating. They were screwed.

“Look at what we have here men. Two spies trying to invade the privacy of an innocent man.”

Kirigiri narrowed her eyes, holding up the document.

“This document says otherwise, you are far from innocent.”

Richard grinned wider, which unsettled Kirigiri. Hinata was miraculously still conscious, but not for long by the looks of him.

“Is that so? Boys, if you will.”

With a snap of his fingers, two guard started towards Kirigiri from both sides. She tried to run, but the men caught her, and her arms were also restrained behind her back and tied before she could register what was happening. One of the men placed the document into Richard’s waiting hand.

“What document? You have nothing.”

She scowled at the man, if looks could kill he would have died a very slow and very painful death.

“Lock them up in the dungeon, if they escape it will cost you your lives.”

“Yes sir!” Came the unanimous cry.

He motioned to one of the guards to stay.

“Fetch Tsumiki, tell her i need her for an urgent matter.”

“Yes sir, right away.”

The now unconscious Hinata was dragged out of the room,

Kirigiri struggled, but the more she resisted the more force was applied to keep her still. She was led down to the dungeons underneath the estate, and shoved into a cell with Hinata next to her. The brunette now had a bandage around his head, and it was already starting to stain. Before Richard left Kirigiri spoke.

“I read the whole thing, don’t think i won’t tell anyone!”

“I don’t think you’ll be talking to anyone for a while. Have a pleasant stay my dear, you’ll be here for a long time.”

With that, he left. Vicious laugh ringing in her ears. She quickly turned to the boy beside her, eyes barely open.

“Hajime, are you ok?”

“Yeah, fine… you think… Ko… will be upset?”

His words were slow and slurred. She blinked, then shook her head.

“This was my fault, i shouldn’t have dragged you here with me.”

“Don’t… say that… i agreed, remember?”

Kirigiri stayed silent, still feeling guilty.

“You should rest Hajime, you’ll need your strength if we’re going to escape.”

He tried to protest, but eventually his eyes closed shut, sleeping peacefully, as peacefully as one could in a cell. They had beds and blankets sure, but with questionable quality.

After a while, she decided to preserve her own strength, and settled in her own (shabby) bed.

They would definitely escape, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well damn, this was longer then i wanted it to be. Now i just need to explain their disappearances. It’s all well and good to have Point A and Point B, but HOW you actually get there is my current problem.
> 
> But anyway, the plot is progressing, so SOMETHING dramatic had to happen.
> 
> Next chapter is the Valantines chapter. Im super excited, but also nervous.
> 
> Just a warning, My end of year exams are spread over the next few weeks, plus i have work due. So if the updates are slower, then that’s why.
> 
> I hope you all liked this, and have a great day :)


	10. Valentines Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this story way to much to stop writing it. That’s a good thing though i guess XD
> 
> I figured out a way to explain Hinata’s and Kirigiri’s disappearances, so that’s been solved thankfully. Upon further thought, it actually ties into the plot quite nicely, so that makes me very happy :)
> 
> I had a thought. If i get enough words on this (not including the authors notes), could i turn this into a book? I dunno, maybe if i edit it a bit and expand the word count. I thought it was a good idea, then insecurity kicked in. So it’s like i REALLY want to, but then anxiety starts.
> 
> Haha, anyway, enough rambling. You came for a story, and a story you shall have.
> 
> This chapter might be a TAD longer, but if it is, it kind of has to be to do the situation justice. You’ll understand if you read the chapter, i couldn’t rush this one at all.

When Togami woke up that morning, she covered her eyes with one arm, groaning and not wanting to wake up. Finally, it was the day. The day that Togami had been both dreading and awaiting in equal measure. Hated it because it would mean she would have to finally admit her feelings, and hated it because it meant sacrificing her pride. It meant that she could possibly be rejected, and as cold as she acted, she didn’t know how to deal with that.

What if the reason that Naegi had been so skittish around her, was to spare her feelings? He somehow knew how she felt, and just avoided her and didn’t know how to reject her kindly? For once in her life, she was insecure. This one boy had more effect on her then anyone else in her life, he had such an effect that it scared her.

She consoled herself with the fact that he didn’t even know her real name, so should rejection come, she could just cut all ties and leave for another town like nothing ever happened. However, the idea didn’t sit well with her.

She sighed, and sat up in bed. Might as well get it over with then. After dressing casually, she walked over to where she had hidden the chocolates she made yesterday. She pulled out the box, staring at it thoughtfully.

“Tch. I made them myself, of course he’d like them.”

She said it with a smirk on her face, but the tone suggested that rather then stating a fact, she was trying to convince herself of something.

Then, she heard a loud crash from downstairs.

“Ow! Man that hurt!”

That was… Naegi? But why was he hurt?

Either the fool had somehow injured himself… or something serious had happened.

“Naegi!” She called.

She could here shuffling, but no answer was received. She ripped open her door and started picking up speed down the hallway.

“Naegi! Answer me you fool!”

She raced down the stairs, almost tripping over herself in haste, composure momentarily forgotten.

“Mako….to?”

The scene was not one she was expecting.

Naegi was sitting on the floor next to the counter, various pots and pans were scattered around him. One of his arms was above his head, acting as a shield. The other was behind his back, presumably holding something.

“Makoto, what are you doing?”

The brunette looked around, saw her, and eyes widened. He stood up in a hurry, now both hands were protecting whatever it was behind his back. Togami narrowed her eyes in suspicion, just what could he be hiding?

“I’ll ask again, what idiocy was taking place in this room?”

“N-nothing Celestia! Nothing at all!”

Togami walked closer to the boy, slow and calculating steps.

“You’re a terrible liar, Makoto Naegi, i demand a proper answer.”

She walked until she was standing only a few feet in front on Naegi, and placed her own box on the counter next to him. The other didn’t notice, as he was to busy securing the still mysterious object behind his back.

“R-really! It’s nothing!”

“Yes, and the boogeymen is real. Now, the truth. Spit it out please.”

Makoto just stood there, lips slightly parted and gaping like a fish. His eyes started to dart back and forth, as if searching desperately for any exit to this conversation.

“Makoto, i will not repeat myse-“

Naegi tried to bolt, however he only managed to take one or two steps. The poor boy was so flustered, he somehow managed to trip over himself in his haste. 

When he fell, Togami was still standing right in front of him. Instinctively she reached her arms out to catch him.

It was where he landed that surprised them both.

“Mako- mph!”

Eyes slowly closed as lips met. Togami was frozen and wide-eyed in surprise, but after only taking a split second to register what was happening, her eyes also closed as she kissed back. She didn’t know if Naegi truly liked her back, so she would use this opportunity to it’s fullest. 

To her disappointment, Naegi soon pulled away. His cheeks were flushed red, and eyes staring ahead at nothing. He looked dazed and embarrassed at the same time. Not that Togami could say anything, she could feel her cheeks redden just as much, if not more.

“I- You! Wha… what was that?!”

“Y-you kissed me you fool!” Togami spluttered.

“I- well, I just- Nevermind.”

“No, never mind WHAT? You just kissed me Makoto, i would like an explanation.”

The boy couldn’t even speak, he was stuttering so badly that he couldn’t form a complete sentence.

“Tch. Fine.”

Togami turned to exit. If the boy didn’t return her feelings, then she might as well leave.

“Wait!”

A hand grabbed her wrist, turning her around to face the other. He looked determined, yet the red was still prominent on his cheeks. Probably trying to let her down gently no doubt.

“You- you can’t just-“

“Can’t what Makoto?!”

“You can’t leave! Because, because…”

“No, i don’t want to hear it! If your going to reject me and my feelings then get it over with.”

Makoto froze, wondering if that meant what he thought it did. Did she… did she feel the same way about him as he thought of her? When he felt another tug on the hand in his grasp, he snapped back to reality.

Finally, he made a decision.

“I’m not going to reject you!”

Togami stared at the boy, composure lost and eyes wide in disbelief.

“You… what?”

“I’m not going to reject you! Not now, nor ever. I want to see you smile, to see you laugh freely. I want to make you happy.”

He brought the object from behind his back. It turned out to be a beautiful bouquet of roses. All red and in full bloom, and wrapped in a silk ribbon.

“I want to be your boyfriend Celes, if you’ll have me.”

Any trace of whatever composure she had left was lost. Togami could feel her face heating up. He wasn’t rejecting her? She could only stare in shock.

“Happy Valentines Day Celestia.”

She gingerly took the bunch of roses, staring at them as if she didn’t quite believe what she was grasping was real. Then she remembered the box she left on the counter.

“I… also have a present for you.”

She reached a hand, and felt until she grasped the box she wanted. She all but shoved the box in Naegi’s face in embarrassment. He blinked, and focused on the box before him.

“You made these for me? When?”

She turned her head, stubbornly looking anywhere but at Makoto.

“Asahina helped. I thought you might want something better then those store bought lumps you call chocolate.”

Naegi took the box with a soft smile. Even in a situation like this, Celes was still Celes, personality and all.

“Celes.”

Togami looked at Makoto.

“Thank you, I really like that you would make these for me.”

“I believe you deserved something special. Your… your special, for a plebeian.” She added the last part hurriedly, still refusing to let go of her usual speech mannerisms.

He grasped both of her hands in his.

“Celes, your a special person to me, so I want to ask you again. Will you go out with me?”

Togami looked at him, somewhere in the back of her mind she was finding this slightly ironic. She ran away so she wouldn’t have to find a suitor, who knew that would be the very action to get her one?

“Of course I will, you fool.”

Makoto’s grin spread wider across his face. Which made Togami happy that she was the one to put it on his face.

Makoto was happy, and not in the least offended by his companions style of accepting. He liked her the way she was, sarcasm and all.

She still had her head turned away, cheeks tomato red. Naegi let go of one of her hands and placed it gently on her cheek.

“Celes-chan.”

She looked back at Makoto, green eyes met piercing blue.

“Thank you.”

He tugged at her collar, bringing her down to his eye level, and for the second time that day, lips met. This time it was shorter, but sweeter. Both parties blushing madly.

This day would be one they would both remember for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha yes, FINALLY! Finally my ship officially sails. 
> 
> I think that no matter what, this chapter HAD to be a bit longer. Otherwise, i could not do the situation justice. If your getting two people together, you can’t just rush or skim it, you have to put more effort in. Especially when you have a Tsundere like Togami.
> 
> I’m going to end the chapter here, so wish me luck.
> 
> I have no idea how I’m going to write any of their “Dates” so any ideas or inspiration are welcome.


	11. Valentines Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SOOO sorry, i took forever to update this. I was going through severe writers block. Thankfully i remembered a friends advice, so i was able to pull through. 
> 
> Hopefully i don’t make a total flop in this chapter. Please let me down gently if i did. If not, well, feel free to tell me that to. :)

Naegi was scared, not to mention nervous.

Nothing was wrong mind you, nothing catastrophic or life threatening had occurred. The problem was very simple, absurdly so in fact.

He was nervous about taking Celestia on a date. he finally confessed, sure, but what now?

They were both sitting at the dining table, Celes with one of her ever present teacups. Naegi briefly wondered how and where she got so much tea, but quickly dismissed it in favour of more pressing matters. Namely where to take Celes. 

They hand one hand each on the table, fingers intertwined. Unconciously he softly traced circles on the back of her hand with his thumb as he mulled over several ideas.

Both were mildly startled to hear a knock at the door. Naegi let go of his companions hand and made his way to the front door, wondering who on earth would be there on Valentines Day, when they could be out with their significant other.

He had only just opened the door to enquire who it was, but that same someone barged in before the door was fully opened. Naegi saw a blur of red, and then found himself smothered in darkness as someone wrapped their arms around him.

“Mako-kun! Happy Valentines Day!”

He recognised that voice, Asahina?

When the person pulled back, his guess was proven correct. It was indeed his friend, all dressed up. Instead of her usual shorts and white t-shirt, she was wearing a pretty red dress that went halfway between her knees and ankles. Her hair was in a neat bun instead of her regular ponytail, with two bangs framing her face.

Her boyfriend Hagakure was a bit behind her. For a guy with such large wild hair, he managed to clean up pretty well. Naegi was almost impressed.

“So uh… not that i don’t like you, but-“

“But what am i doing here on Valentines day?”

Naegi, unsure of what was happening, nodded his head slowly.

“It’s simple! Im here to help you with your Valentines date.”

He was still confused.

“Help me… plan a date with Celes?”

“No, to give you a suggestion. Come on a double date with me and Hagakure.”

Hagakure piped in at this point.

“Yeah dude! Totally bring your smoking hot chick with you, and we can both take the girls there.”

Asahina raised an eyebrow, and turned to fully face her boyfriend.

“Smokin hot _huh_?”

Hagakure, realising he should probably have worded that better, paled.

“W-wait! Aoi-chan that’s not… i didn’t mean it like that i swear!”

“Well maybe you should take Celes on a date instead.”

She turned away from Hagakure, once again facing Naegi. Only he could see the small smile building on Asahina’s face. He could tell she indeed knew he didn’t mean it in any offence against her. 

“You are by far the prettiest girl i have ever seen dude!”

Even though Naegi could see Asahina rolling her eyes at the use of ‘dude’, she couldn’t wipe the fond smile off of her face. When she turned, however, Hagakure was holding a bunch of roses, vibrant red and in full bloom.

“Happy Valentines day Aoi-chan.”

Asahina took the flowers, with a slightly surprised, yet still happy look on her face.

“Thank you so much, the flowers are so pretty!”

“Your even more pretty.”

Naegi, having a feeling that he should lead them to have their moment, started to close the door. But the wood creaked, making Asahina turn her head towards the sound.

“Ah, I’m sorry Makoto, i forgot you were there for a second. I actually came here to see if you wanted to come with us on the double date.” 

Oh, that. Naegi almost forgot about that. It seems Asahina didn’t though.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but… why?”

“Being the silly dork that you are, i figured you’d forget to make a plan! So me and Hagakure agreed to take you with us on a double date.”

Well, she wasn’t wrong, Naegi realised. He was so nervous about his confession plan that afterwards completely slipped his mind. Oops. He almost missed it when Asahina leaned down a little to whisper in his ear.

“I also got a bouquet of flowers for you to give Caitlin, i didn’t know what she liked so i got red roses.”

“Well, i actually did get her some earlier, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind one more today.”

“Perfect, then its settled, yes?”

“Sure, that sounds good. Thank you Aoi-chan.”

Asahina smiled widely.

“Not a problem, anything to help a friend! It doesn’t even have to be a double date if you don’t want it to be.”

“What do you mean Aoi?”

“Okay, as i said i planned for you right? Well, our tables are next to each other, but still separated by a little bit. so we can either be in a group and talk to each other or if we want we can just focus on our dates.”

“Okay, i see.”

Naegi was still partially confused, but he grasped the general idea of what Asahina was saying. He hadn’t been to a restaurant that did that sort of seating plan before, but he’d just go with it for now.

“Speaking of dates, where’s Caitlin?”

Naegi looked around, and realised Celes was nowhere behind him.

“Excuse me Aoi, i’ll go find her.”

As he walked off to go locate his female companion, he heard Asahina behind him.

“Knock first Makoto! She could be changing!”

As her voice grew fainter, he heard Hagakure speak up.

“Careful dude! She could throw thing at you and hit your face!”

“That was one time Yasuhiro!”

“But it still hurt! Why’d you throw the soap at my eye?”

“I wasn’t aiming for your eye! I told you not to come in, it’s your fault you didn’t listen! Besides….”

He couldn’t help but laugh as the voices faded. Those two were forever up to some sort of silly antics, but they were crazy about each other.

“Caitlin?”

He used her cover name, not taking the chance of the two at the door over hearing.

He walked to the dining area where he left her, but her seat was empty. Her teacup was sitting neatly on the sink, waiting to be washed. He looked frantically back and forth around the area, wondering where she could have gone.

“Naegi, stop those nonsense movements, you might give yourself whiplash.”

He spun around when he heard that familiar voice. That condescending tone, that was slightly softer lately when spoken to him directly, and the biting words to go with it. That unique voice that could only belong to one person.

He saw Celes walking towards him, and promptly lost whatever words he might have spoken.

She must have got this dress while out with the girls a while ago. It was a plain, dark green dress. High waisted and the skirt reached to her ankles. On her feet were the same colour shoes as the dress.

“Is there something on my face? Or have you lost the capacity to function as a human being?”

Naegi couldn’t help but laugh, her scathing remarks would never change, not for anybody. They had almost become endearing at this point.

“No, your face is still the same.”

He took her hand, hers reluctant, but after a brief pause her fingers were lacing with his own.

“Then what were you gawking at like a mindless fool?”

“I… uh, i couldn’t stop staring at how beautiful you look in that dress.”

She pulled her free arm across her stomach. Naegi vaguely realised that she probably had instinctively went to cross her arms, but with him holding one hand it didn’t really look the same. He could see her beat down the blush, which made him smile like an idiot.

“I didn’t put this thing on for no reason. And what’s with that name? It’s just the two of us in the house.”

Naegi gestured behind him.

“Asahina and her boyfriend Hagakure are at the door.”

“I see. For what purpose?”

“They invited us out on a double date.”

“I suppose you accepted already.”

“I did. According to Asahina, our tables are close together, but slightly separated, so we can to to them or just each other.”

“That’s an odd table plan for a food establishment. Were leaving immediately i assume?”

“…your agreeing?”

“Yes Naegi, i am. I’m not sure if you knew, but dating actually includes going on _dates_.” 

Naegi laughed again.

“Just what do you find so humorous, Makoto?”

He shook his head while smiling fondly.

“Never change Celes, never change.”

She looked confused for a moment, then smirked.

“Tch. If you insist.”

They made their way to the door, to go on the first date of hopefully many.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to split this in two, well, one and a half really. My main reasoning is I’m finishing this late at night and I’m tired.
> 
> I’ve never been on a date, so i really have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to writing dating scenes or anything like them.
> 
> So, i hope you enjoyed this chapter. I’m back from my writers block for now, so the next chapter should be reasonably soon. Thanks for sticking around readers, i really appreciate it.


	12. Valentines Date (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The long awaited first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story might make both Kirigiri and Hinata a tiny bit OOC. I like to think that both might be a bit more expressive about their feelings, but only in private with their significant other. 
> 
> Anyway, time for the double date. I will confess i don’t have much of an idea about how I’m actually supposed to write a date. So let me know if i could have done better, wish me luck! :)
> 
> PS. This chapter is a bit longer then usual, cause i don’t think i would do it proper justice otherwise

After Naegi closed the door behind him, both of them started walking. Asahina and Hagakure were walking in front of them, hand in hand. The restaurant they were going to eat at was only a short walk from where Naegi lived, so the walk there was filled with chatter. Things like how the wether had been, or other menial everyday topics like that.

Once they arrived, they were quickly directed to their seats. They were placed somewhat towards the back, and to the left. Naegi sat on one side with Celes next to him, Hagakure sat across from him, which put Asahina across from Celes.

When nobody went to speak, Asahina decided to start the conversation.

“So, Mako-kun, i’ve been dying to ask, how in the world did you two meet?”

Hagakure nodded in agreement.

“Yeah Naegs! How’d you meet the dudette?”

“Uh… well…”

Togami could see Naegi struggling, searching for the right thing to say. He didn’t want to tell the story because he respected her wish to remain hidden. As he continued to fidget, Togami decided to take pity on him.

“I was… forced to leave home, you could say. Makoto here was kind enough to let me stay in his home for the time being.”

“Aw Mako-kun, how kind of you!” Asahina beamed.

“More like absurdly gullible.” Togami grumbled under her breath. Makoto nudged her with his foot under the table. Togami rolled her eyes at him, but said nothing.

“I wanted to help her, so of course i agreed to let her stay.”

Makoto could almost swear he heard Celes mutter another ‘gullible’ but decided not to nudge her again. Instead he decided to ask the girls a question.

“So, girls, how did the shopping trip go? You came home with a lot of new outfits Caitlin”.

“Indeed, your friends seemed to be very picky about fashion.”

Asahina laughed.

“Me and kirigiri even had to help carry the clothes home.”

A flash of something that looked like upset crossed Togami’s face, but no-one else at the table noticed it. Quickly it was replaced by her usual expressionless face.

Even though Naegi wasn’t very educated in the fashion sense, he tried to look as interested as he could.

“Really? How many dresses did you buy.”

“Far to many.” Togami scoffed.

“C’mon dudette! Girls like dresses and pretty things! Everyone knows that.”

“Not all women, you mindless buffoon.”

“Whoa, guys! Calm down please.” Naegi quickly intervened, sensing the impending argument.

“But-“

Naegi hugged Togami’s arm and looked at her with wide eyes.

“Please Celes?”

She huffed and looked away.

“Fine.” She grumbled.

Naegi squeezed her arm again, and smiled.

“Lets just enjoy dinner together ok?”

She nodded mutely, feeling her cheeks pink slightly.

“Sorry about him Caitlin, he’s pretty clueless when it comes to women.” Asahina addressed this to Togami.

“Hey!”

“Sorry Yasu-kun, but you kind of are.”

Everyone except Hagakure laughed at that comment, even Togami found herself chuckling.

From there, the night progressed smoothly. There was conversation, laughter, and smiles all around. Even though Togami wouldn’t admit it, she found it secretly adorable when Makoto would try to kiss her, only to puff his cheeks in frustration when he was to short to do so.

The very thought of romance itself had never crossed her mind. The various suitors her uncle had brought never caught her interest, they were all far to boring. One even had the nerve to try and kiss her after she had rejected him. Well, she had promptly sent him packing with his tail between his legs.

But Makoto…. after so little time knowing him, here she was on a date of all things. This wasn’t like her at all. But Makoto was special, maybe far to open for his own good, but he accepted her. He… he was special.

Boyfriend. A word that Togami thought would never apply to her. She was well aware of what people at home thought of her. ‘The Ice Queen’ ‘The living statue’, and all other sorts of names she had heard whispered, no-one dared to say them to her face.

She still didn’t know why Makoto didn’t run away, she treated him no different then anyone else she met, and yet he stayed. He even told her not to change, the fool. Was he some kind of masochist? Probably not, so then why? Why did he stay, let alone ask her out? She felt flattered, not that she would admit that anytime soon.

“Caitlin?”

At the sound of her name, she snapped out of her thoughts. Makoto was looking at her, a soft smile on his face. This boy was making her into a sentimental idiot. Caring was not an advantage, caring meant weakness.

‘But he’s cute and you like him’

‘Stop it brain’

“The waiter’s here Catilin-chan.” Asahina informed, knowing smile on her face.

“Are you ready to order?”

A short plump man, with brown hair and a white chef’s uniform was standing next to their table and smiling patiently. She felt Makoto shift closer and squeeze her hand, but neither made any comment.

“Ahhh Hanamura! Nice to see you again dude!”

“I say, it’s lovely to see you again Hagakure, you’ve brought your lovely date i see.”

“Teruteru!”

The waiter backed off a few steps.

“Don’t worry, no worries at all, such a beautiful love should never be broken, perish the thought!”

As she studied him, she could instantly tell what kind of guy he was. He was practically drooling over Asahina until she was declared off-limits. Then his eyes met Togami’s cold gaze. He walked around the table to stand next to her.

“Well i do declare, who is this fine young lady?”

He winked, and went to grasp her idle hand, but before he could blink she yanked it out of his reach, and gave him a glare so cold it could have frozen hell.

“Don’t even think about touching me if you want to keep that hand, waiter.” She spat, every word dripping with acid. Every cold syllable promising pain if he did touch her.

“Y-yes ma’m!” Hanamura gulped, backing away slowly, taking his original position next to the table same as when he arrived. The hands holding the pen and paper were shaking slightly. 

“S-so, what’ll it be tonight? We’re cutting prices for today only for couples.”

Togami tried to subtly catch Naegi’s attention, when she did he looked confused for a moment, but after seeing her stare puzzled at a menu he understood. After a brief whispered explanation on what some foods were from Naegi, she made her decision. The chef-turned-waiter seemed to gain most of his confidence back, but all four noticed his apprehension when it was Togami’s turn to order. 

Thankfully, all four ordered their meals without incident.

“So, one Valentines discount and two meals? Coming right up?”

“Two.”

Hanamura looked at the speaker… Naegi?!

Much to everyone else’s surprise, Makoto grabbed his companions hand that was resting on the table, intertwined their fingers, and glared at the chef/waiter meaningfully.

“There will be not one, but two valentines specials, and no more funny business with my-”

He stumbled for a moment, face going red. But then he regained his confidence and spoke.

“No funny business with my girlfriend, Teruteru.”

Togami just stared, surprised at seeing this new side of Makoto. It was cute to see this more aggressive, protective side of the boy. Until now he had been all stuttering and tentative embraces. 

This was certainly a surprise, but, Togami realised with a red face, not an unwelcome one.

“A-as you wish Naegi, the food will be right out!”

With that, Hanamura took off, weaving through tables until he disappeared into the kitchen.

“Caitlin.”

Togami looked at him.

“Can i… can i kiss you?”

“You…”

Togami looked to Makoto’s left, blushing and pointedly not looking at his face.

“The brunette stood up, so that he only had to bend a tiny bit to reach his companions face. He braced one hand on her chair, the other gently cupping her cheek.

“So… may i Caitlin?”

“I don’t know, can you?”

Makoto backed off a step, looking uncertain.

“What… what do you mean by that?”

“You seem to be physically competent for such a simple task, or are you going to prove me wrong?”

She looked at him, right into his eyes.

“I do not like being wrong Makoto Naegi.”

His expression lit up, recognising the challenge in her words. He stepped back towards her, cupping her face once again, and pressed his lips to hers. It was short and sweet, but both of them were blushing when they parted.

“Awww, that’s so cute!” Asahina squealed.

Unfortunately, she forgot to watch where her arms were flailing. Setting of a chain reaction.

One of her elbows hit Hagakure in the stomach, making him exclaim in pain and cross his arms. While he was crossing his arms, his forearm hit his drink, causing the cup to spill, this in turn flung the drink’s contents onto one unfortunate victim. Asahina, however, remained oblivious in her quiet squealing.

The whole event only took a matter of seconds, but it resulted in three things. A very apologetic Hagakure, a worried Makoto… and a very irritated Togami.

“You bumbling imbecile!”

Finally, Asahina clued back in, realising what must have happened.

“Oh no, Caitlin! I’m so sorry!”

“What she said! I’m so sorry dudette! Are you ok?”

“Do i look okay, you mindless incompetent-“

“Caitlin stop!”

Togami looked at the boy who spoke, who just happened to be Makoto, fixing him with a blank stare.

“We can get you changed at home, alright? Everything is ok.”

“…I suppose you have a point.”

Makoto let out a sigh of relief, thankful that any arguments had been averted. Both noticed when Hagakure approached the pair, looking genuinely sorry for the incident.

“Here, you can take my jacket dudette! You can cover up the stain until you get home again.”

Slowly, looking both surprised and slightly touched, Togami took the jacket from Hagakure. She guessed it was better having nothing to cover the stain at all.

Asahina appeared next to her boyfriend.

“Makoto, you get Caitlin home to change, and we’ll pay for dinner, ok?”

Even though he could feel his wallet crying at the suggestion, Hagakure nodded his agreement.

After wrapping the jacket around Togami’s thin frame, the two of them left the restaurant, and headed off back home. The walk was short, with a few bits of small talk here and there.

After Makoto shut the door behind them, Togami wasted no time in rushing for the stairs, wanting to get out of the stained dress as soon as possible. Not to mention those wretched high heels, they were killing her feet, why did women even wear them.

She heard Makoto call out from the kitchen.

“Celes, I’m going to make some tea for us ok? I’ll take it to the library so we can read.”

As she left to get changed, she couldn’t get rid of the red on her cheeks. 

When she was changed, she settled down in the library on the same couch as before. The memory of trying to teach Makoto french was still fresh in her mind. Soon enough, the boy himself appeared at the library entrance, smiling gently and holding two cups of tea on a tray.

“Are we reading French again Celes?”

“Yes. Do try and keep up, I’m not slowing down for you.”

Despite her words, she patiently corrected Makoto when he got a word wrong, or when he mispronounced several and sounded like a dying cat. Even though she huffed and complained, she never failed to sit close enough to him that their legs and arms were touching.

He was such a goofball, and a naive commoner. Despite hating how cliche it sounded, she was pleased about the next thought.

He was her naive commoner.


	13. Valentines Date (Another Perspective)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not Naegami, but it's relevant to the story

When Nagito Komaeda woke on Valentines morning, he was very reluctant to get out of bed. It was warm, very cozy, and being thin as he was, it was very easy for him to succumb to the cold.

What did surprise him, was the absence of his boyfriend.

He slowly opened his eyes, blinking away the sleep. The spot where Hajime had lain the night before was empty, cold blankets and ruffled sheets told him this much. Where had Hajime gone? Komaeda didn’t know, but he wanted to find out.

He searched with one hand, until, curiously, he felt the crinkle of paper. Humming his confusion, he brought both of the sheets of paper closer to his face so he could read their contents.

 

Nagito

I’m sorry i couldn’t be there when you woke up, Kirigiri asked me to accompany her for an urgent mission in the Togami household. I promise i will make it up to you when i get back. 

I can’t tell you what the mission entails, but i should be home soon. Getting home to you is all the motivation i need.

I should be back late, and I’m sorry for that, but i left you some chocolates on the counter.

I love you Nagito Komaeda

From: Hajime Hinata

 

The albino couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face. Even though you wouldn’t think it, Hajime was a very sweet person when he wanted to be. It made him feel special that Hajime was only like this with him, he felt loved and cared for.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed, reading the letter and smiling, until a thought occurred to him

The Togami household… Didn’t the heir just leave suddenly a while ago? Why would there need to be an investigation?

He shook his head, deciding this was unimportant for the moment. He was just happy that he had an explanation as to where his boyfriend went.

He then turned his attention to the second paper.

 

Nagito Komaeda

Unfortunately, i cannot join you on Valentines day. Something urgent has happened, and it is far to dangerous for me to return home.

I will return as soon as i can, in the meantime, don’t trust any strangers that come knocking. They could ask you things about me and the investigation, it might be someone trying to hurt you.

Hajime Hinata

 

Nagito frowned as he took in these words. They had always spent every holiday together. He knew he shouldn’t, as it was apparently a very important investigation, but he couldn’t help feeling really upset at the fact that he wouldn’t get to spend Valentines Day with Hajime. He had saved him from a life of complete isolation, and he loved him dearly for that.

As he enjoyed the chocolates that the brunette left him, he couldn’t help but wonder, just what was keeping Hajime at the estate?

Much was the same for Sayaka Maizono.

In a different house a short distance away, she had also woken up alone. Her girlfriend, Kyoko Kirigiri, was not in the bed with her when she woke up.

Similar to Nagito, Sayaka had also found a letter on her significant other’s side of the bed. Actually, she also found two.

 

Dear Sayaka

I have an urgent matter to attend to. There is investigating to be done at the Togami household. Normally, i would not tell anyone of my whereabouts or what i am investigating, but seeing as you are my girlfriend, you get exclusive knowledge.

The heir, Belinda has disappeared. The fact she was visiting friends was a cover up story so the public wouldn’t panic.

The Togami head, Richard, is acting very suspicious. I suspect he had a hand in Belinda’s disappearance, i need to investigate in order to prove my suspicions.

Do not worry, i have asked Hajime Hinata to accompany me. I should be home safe and sound to join you for Valentines Day.

You must absolutely not tell anyone about the contents of this letter, it could compromise the whole investigation if my cover is blown.

I love you Sayaka

From: Kyoko Kirigiri

 

She let out a giggle, touched at both her lover’s words, and the fact that she trusted her so much as to tell her about the mission. 

She often did that, even though she really shouldn’t, Kyoko would often tell her tidbits about her various missions. Where she was going, who or what she was investigating. It meant the world to her that her girlfriend put that much faith in her. 

She was determined that would not damage this trust, no matter what.

Then she read the second letter.

 

Sayaka Maizono

Unfortunately, i cannot join you on Valentines day. Something urgent has happened, and it is far to dangerous for me to return home.

I will return as soon as i can, in the meantime, don’t trust any strangers that come knocking. They could ask you things about me and my investigation, it might be someone trying to hurt you.

Kyoko Kirigiri

 

Her smile faded, to be replaced with a pout. She was disappointed that she wouldn’t get to spend Valentines Day with her beautiful girlfriend, but she understood. She loved Kyoko far to much to put her in danger.

Her words sounded more urgent, more insistent then the first letter. 

Both Nagito and Sayaka were having similar thought processes.

Just what was taking their lover so long?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down! I’m so happy, i usually don’t update this fast. But i was suuuuuper inspired, so i just had to write.
> 
> This chapter is just a tiny bit shorter then normal, but no matter. Next chapter the plot gets kicking once again.
> 
> I’m really excited to see what you guys think, let me know your feedback ok?
> 
> [ PS. How do you do italics and Bold on this site? ]


	14. Hinata's Journal - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a look at Komaeda and Hinata's backstory, and an implied foreshadow of an enemy to come

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> REJOICE! After god knows how long, i have decided to finally get off my ass and update this haha, this had to be the WORST writers block I’ve had in a long time.
> 
> I was on my own Ao3 account, and i decided to read over what i wrote. Grammatically, i don’t think it’s very good, and if i ever get time i’ll go back and edit it. The reason for that is probably because i was trying to be more strict in the beginning chapters with the approx 1000 word limit, which probably restricted the overall quality.
> 
> But in either case, i have a bit of new inspiration for this story, so i decided to pull out my little green notebook and continue this, wish me luck! :)
> 
> Apparently I’m not very consistent when it comes to first or last names, if this bothers anyone let me know.
> 
> In this chapter, we learn a bit more about Komaeda’s past. I wasn’t gonna do it, but then i realised that it could add more depth to the story, so there we have it. This might be a bit long, as I’m going into detail about this.
> 
> As usual, I OWN NOTHING! (or else Komahina and Naegami would already be canon by now.)
> 
> FINAL WARNING - THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG ASS CHAPTER! (That’s why it’s split into two).

The morning after valentines day, Komaeda decided that he couldn’t just sit around and wait all day and do nothing. Since he didn’t have a job, most days he decided that the least he could do was keep the house clean. He didn’t have many talents, but cleaning was one of the few things he was good at.

He knew this made him look like a housewife, but he really didn’t care. Hinata was already stressed enough supporting the two of them, especially with him constantly getting sick. It was the least Komaeda could do to make sure he didn’t have any more worries at home.

Nagito was cleaning their bedroom, when he decided to tidy the bedside drawers. He was cleaning Hinata’s side, tidying some papers. He was deciding what to do with the note in his hand, the second one that Hajime had left yesterday, when he found a few small black books that he didn’t recognise.

“Oh? What’s this?”

He picked up the first one and opened it, only to see a page filled with his boyfriends handwriting.

_‘Today i saw a cute boy my age while i was at the shop i help at. When i asked for his name, i found out he was called Nagito Komaeda.’_

His Journal? He didn’t know Hajime kept one of those. But out of sheer curiosity, he kept reading. It turns out it was a really thick one despite its size, going back to when they were thirteen, five years ago.

_‘How does he manage to be that beautiful? I don’t know, but I’m thankful every time i see his face.’_

He couldn’t stop the slight pink that appeared on his cheeks. He knew Hajime loved him, but to find out it went that far back to when they first met? 

That was five years ago. He almost smiled at the memory, but he remembered what his life was like back then, his smile dropped. He wasn’t in a very good place back then.

_‘Today i was approached by a detective, a little girl the same age as me called Kyoko. I didn’t believe at first, but it turns out she is a descendant of the famous Kirigiri family of detectives. She might be only my age, but she was already a brilliant detective.’_

_‘It turns out she wanted to see me about that boy with the white hair, Nagito. He was apparently criminally insane, and part of a secret underground terrorist group. Under the influence of a very dangerous woman, another girl our age who supposedly led this group. Kirigiri didn’t give me this mysterious girls name, so i don’t know if I’ve ever seen her before. I would doubt any girl this young could be that dangerous and crazy, over ‘despair’ no less, but here’s Kirigiri standing right in front of me, so it wouldn’t surprise me now.'_

There it was. **Her**. To this day, he wasn’t sure how he fell into her influence in the first place. But Kyoko was investigating? and Hajime was involved? This was certainly news to him.

_‘So i asked why she was telling me all of this, surely such investigation was supposed to be kept private?’_

_‘When i asked why, she told me it was because of Nagito that she was telling me this, and she needed my help. To add further to my disbelief, she went on to explain that each and every member of this group were only children, the same age as us. The remnants of despair she called them.’_

_‘Again, how did this involve me? I was confused. Surely Nagito wasn’t part of something so dangerous? I couldn’t believe it, such a innocent looking boy, doing the things she described? But apparently so were many of my friends. Ibuki, Akane, even Kuzuryu and Peko. All of them had apparently been brainwashed by this girl. This was very hard to process, but it also makes a horrifying amount of sense. It explains why they had all stopped speaking to me a few years ago, even Soda, who had claimed to be my soul friend when we were small, had been sucked into this despair group.’_

_‘So again, why me? Apparently it wasn’t normal for any remnant of despair to associate with anyone outside of their group. They were only supposed to be fixated on causing despair to the masses in secret. This made Kyoko curious, about me that is. She wanted to know why Nagito was so fixated on me. Me, a normal boy, average in any and every way, so why was a remnant of despair so interested in me? That was what Kyoko wanted to find out. She wanted to investigate my life, to find out why. I didn’t see a problem with this. I wanted to help her in any way i could, if a group this dangerous was running around, made up of my friends no less, i wanted to help them and her investigation in any way i could. It’s not like i had anything to hide anyway. She did have a lot of questions for me, but i answered all of them honestly as i could.’_

_‘But i think most of all, i wanted to help Nagito. Lately i had been thinking about him a lot. With all of these thought, i realised something, i had a major crush on Nagito Komaeda.’_

_‘As Kyoko was leaving, i offered my help. Not just answering my questions, but accompanying her on her investigations if she ever needed somebody to help, or just wanted to have a partner on a mission. This made her pause, and she smiled slightly. She didn’t seem like the type to express much emotion, so this gesture made me surprisingly happy. What was even more surprising is that i had a feeling, like i already knew we were going to be friends.’_

This slightly shocked Nagito. He had that big of a crush on him, even back then? When he was so out of his mind he didn’t know what was right, and was despair really was? He was so lucky to have him as a partner.

But the journal wasn’t even over yet, should he keep reading? Nagito couldn’t help it, he was just so curious as to what his boyfriends thought were about what happened back then. He himself could barely remember it. Well he could, but it all felt like a distant dream, like it didn’t quite feel like his own memories, but instead he was viewing someone else’s.

_‘Time went by, and Kyoko did indeed ask me for help on more missions. She was still investigating the remnants of despair, but until she got more leads, or until Nagito told me anything, she was still a detective, and therefore had other mysteries to solve.’_

_‘Regarding Nagito, Kyoko gave me a simple mission. Befriend Nagito, gain his trust, and get him to reveal all the information on the despair group and it’s leader i can.’_

Nagito was surprised, does this mean that the beginning of their friendship was false? Meeting Hajime was what helped him first start on the road to recovery, and finally leaving her, and all of her despair. Was it all fake? Before coming to any conclusions, he kept reading. Good or bad, he would find his answer in the journal.

_‘But i feel so guilty, despite the short time we’ve known each other, Nagito is already someone precious to me. A valued friend. Maybe more in a couple of years at least, but that’s a thought for later, i have to get him away from despair first before i get ahead of myself. I want to help him, he’s told me some of his past, and even without that i want to be able to save Nagito and give him all the affection he deserves.’_

Well what do you know? He should never have doubted Hajime. With a smile, he shook his head slightly and kept reading.

_‘It’s been a year since i met Nagito and Kyoko, and started helping with investigations. I celebrated my fourteenth birthday at the turning of the new year.’_

_‘But something happened. I finally met the leader of despair.’_

That was all for that day, an unusually short entry. Had something happened to him? He said he met the leader of despair, met her. She didn’t hurt him did she? Before he started panicking, Nagito reminded himself that Hajime was here today, and was both safe and healthy. So whatever did happen must not have been to bad. 

Every time he found something new that made him question his boyfriend, he had to keep reminding himself to just keep reading, that there was always an explanation. Even in his Journal, Hajime wasn’t known for flaking out, or just giving up halfway. That no matter what, they were happy now and everything was in the past.

_‘I’m sorry, i didn’t write much in here yesterday. Just meeting her was enough, and truth be told it unnerved me. It was enough to understand just how dangerous she really was. I finally learned her name to, a name that even writing down here just gives me shivers to think about’_

_‘Yesterday, i met Junko Enoshima.’_

_‘Just talking with her is dangerous. She approached me as i was leaving the shop, when i was alone. Just the way she speaks, the look in her eyes was similar to that of an endless abyss.The way she talks about bringing despair to the world, it’s not hard to see she is truly insane. But as it turns out, she gave me several important details. Being as insane as she was, i don’t even think she meant to, i think she was just trying to make me as afraid of her as possible. She wanted me to feel despair.'_

_‘But i didn’t. I kept a blank face as she rambled on and on about her despair. She unknowingly told me how she kept them under her thrall. She has a nurse she didn’t name, that she forced to perform various medical procedures on them all, even on the nurse herself, so that they believed how she wanted them to. It also didn’t hold for long, so this nurse had to keep doing procedures at set intervals to make them stay.’_

_‘But only one thing she talked about made me really angry, one thing that i almost lost composure over.’_

_‘She talked about Nagito.’_

That was all for that day. The writing cut off there. But the words at the end were more defined, as if more force had been applied when they were written. Had he really been that angry, over someone like him? No, he had to stop those thoughts. He was better now, he had mostly left behind any traces of that woman influence. But some days, he slipped. Some days were worse then others, and the thoughts slipped out before he could stop them.

He turned to the next day’s entry.

_‘I had to stop writing yesterday. I was so angry, that if i continued, i probably would have torn this journal to bits in a fit of rage. How dare she talk about Nagito like that! Like he was just some worthless pawn, some lucky charm to be thrown out like trash when she was through with using him.’_

_‘That was almost exactly how she described him. Some worthless rich boy with no family, some dog she picked up off the street. It makes me so angry just to recount every word she said about him. He is in no way worthless, and even if he is insane, i treasure every second i spend with him. I just wish he would see himself that way. She really has gotten to him hasn’t she? Almost every conversation i have with him i keep hearing the words ‘trash like me’ and ‘someone like me’, she really has made him think that little of himself. But i wish he could see how much he’s really worth, how special he actually is.’_

The pink on his cheeks came back with a vengeance as Nagito read this passage. Hajime really cared about him that much? That was very flattering, he wasn’t sure what to think, only that it made him very happy to know someone cared for him that much.

 _‘The very next day, i met with Kyoko, and i told her about what happened. She was instantly concerned, asking about my health and safety. She was relieved when i told her i was completely unharmed. Naturally, her next question was weather Jun- that woman, i don’t even want her name in here any more then it has to be, had revealed anything important. I was only to happy to share everything i had learned.’_

_‘This was a very important break in the case, we finally had a lead! I don’t think i’ve ever seen Kyoko so happy, and so was I. I could finally save Nagito from despair, i could give him the chance at a happy life that he deserves. We finally had a plan! We had a way to get the remnants of despair back to who they used to be, they would be back to normal. Not only would i be able to save Nagito, i would be able to rescue all of my friends as well.’_

Hajime always did like helping people didn’t he? He might not be to popular, but he was well liked and was fairly well known, so it wasn’t something that Nagito couldn’t imagine. He could see it perfectly, always happy to help with that smile on his face that Nagito loved so much.

He skimmed the pages to a few days later.

**END PART ONE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking about Izuru Kamakura, and if i should include him… but what would i do with him? Obviously he would be seperate from Hinata, but as of right now, i don’t have a place to fit him into the story. So for now he wont be in it until i think of something.
> 
> I don’t know how many people are still actually reading this, but whoever is thanks for sticking around! :)


	15. Hinata's Journal - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation and last part of 'Hinata's Journal'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to part 2 of this insanely long chapter.
> 
> If any of you are wondering why i made up the stuff about the remnants of despair and stuff, and why it hasn’t popped up until now, well not even i know, it wasn’t in my green notebook i can tell you that. But hey, i thought it would be a nice addition to the story, so here we are.
> 
> I had to go with memory loss, because how else would i explain why no mention of the despair group has popped up by now? They’ve all forgotten their horrible pasts, so that’s that i guess. It won’t have any weight on the rest of the story whatsoever, so enjoy reading.
> 
> We should get back to the main Naegami plot in the next chapter, and no this will not be a common occurrence, this was a one off alternate POV.
> 
> Usual disclaimer: Neither Komahina or Naegami are canon yet, so that’s a sign i don’t own Danganronpa yet

_‘Today Kyoko mentioned that she had a girlfriend to protect, and that even though they were close, the law forbids them to get married, even when they come of age, because they were of the same gender. This made me think, what about me and Nagito? If everything worked out, and only if me and Nagito formed a relationship, we would not be able to marry. Kyoko must have seen the look on my face, and since i had long admitted my crush on him to her, she knew instantly what was wrong.’_

_‘She explained that she was friends with the heir to the Togami family, the family that basically runs this kingdom. In fact they did, they were royalty. But Kyoko explained to me that as soon as Belinda Togami came of age, that she could take control of the Togami inheritance. And when she did, she had agreed to pass a new law, one that allowed people of the same gender to marry. I have seen her around when i occasionally help Kyoko in investigations that take us to the castle. Even though i haven’t spent time with her personally, from what I’ve seen she doesn’t seem the type to have many friends, or make them that easily. Kyoko must be an amazing girl to earn such a cautious girl’s trust.’_

_‘But you know what this means? That if i can help him, if i can save Nagito. If everything works out for the best, then when Belinda Togami comes to power, then there’s hope for us if it ever comes to that. It’s funny, i haven’t even been on a date with him yet, and I’m already imagining the possibilities for the future! Jeez, what is this kid doing to me?’_

This was proving to be a more interesting find then Nagito anticipated. All this time, his boyfriend’s thoughts were all contained in this book? He never even had a clue until now. Once again he kept reading.

_‘It’s been a few weeks, almost a month in fact, and so far the plan seems to be successful. All we have to do is get them out one by one, and keep them away from that woman and the unnamed nurse until their time limit has worn off. From only the handful we’ve captured so far, each remnant of despair seems to have a different time limit for how frequent they need their operations, and from what i can tell it seems to depend on their will.’_

_'But i’m worried about Nagito. No matter what, no matter how many people we capture and convert, he always comes to see me like clockwork, almost every day now. It makes me feel guilty to look him in the eye, to have to lie to his face and tell him i have no idea why his associates are ‘moving away’. Every time i see his face, i have to stop myself from breaking and telling him everything. From the impression i get, that woman is telling them that they have simply either died or are moving to another hideout, that’s how callous she is, she doesn’t even seem to care that were capturing and healing all of her remnants of despair. But this is only what I’m inferring from what Kyoko tells me. I mean yes i help, but I’m still no master detective like she is.'_

_‘New years is approaching in a few days, and at the turn of the new year i’ll be fifteen. It’s also time to capture Nagito according to Kyoko, the last of the bunch. I feel so guilty, i can’t believe I’m doing this.’_

That was Hinata? Komaeda doesn’t remember much from that night, but the little he can remember is waiting to meet Hajime, then everything going black.

_‘I was such a coward to. I couldn’t even look him in the eyes as i knocked him out, instead i approached him from behind and knocked him out before he registered my presence. I couldn’t bear to face the look in his eyes cause the next time he saw me, i knew it would haunt me forever. It would look like i had betrayed him, and in a way i have. I don’t know how i can expect to be forgiven for this.’_

That was all the writing for that day, so he went to the next page.

_‘It’s been a few days, and he’s in the pod with everyone else, all in varying stages of consciousness. It’s my birthday in a short while, but since Kyoko wanted to visit her father and grandfather, i volunteered to stay and watch them. We have them hidden in a secure location, so we have to keep an eye on them at all times. Kyoko deserves the day off, she’s been working so hard to help them all. And since i don’t have any family members to visit, i decided to watch them tonight and all of tomorrow.’_

_‘Its getting closer to midnight, and i can hear everyone else in the distance celebrating in the nearby town. They’ve even said that the Togami family will be there, but i don’t know since I’m not there. I’m sitting next to Nagito’s pod, and if i didn’t know any better it would look like he’s sleeping, he looks so peaceful. He’s not dead, thankfully, and all i can do is wait for him to wake up.’_

_‘Just as i heard the first fireworks go up and explode, i heard a low groan from next to me. It shocke-___.,’_

It cut off there, as if Hajime had suddenly ripped the open off the page in the middle of writing, but what had happened? The next page quickly told him.

_‘He did it! Nagito woke up! The groan he made startled me so bad that i dropped my journal, but that wasn’t important at the time. What was important was that even though it had only been a few days, he was finally awake!’ It was the best birthday present i could have possibly asked for.’_

The next entry was a few days later.

 _‘Me and Kyoko are trying our best to help them, so far it’s slow going. It’s only been a few days so far, so not much has happened, but things seem to be going well.'_

_‘Especially with Nagito. So far he seems pretty out of it, but i could swear he looks happier when I’m with him. Kyoko agrees with this, she says that because he was able to form a friendship with me, even in despair, that it means my positive bond with him is so strong it will help him recover faster. It turns out that that woman had to have him performed on every few days, and while i hate the fact that he went through so much, it does explain his poor health.’_

Two weeks later.

_’So far, Nagito and everyone else are making a really good recovery. Some are having difficulty due to the occasional relapse, but other then that we are confident that they will recover soon.’_

_'Nagito can go home soon, and I’m very happy for him. But i was concerned by the fact that he has no-one waiting for him when we let him go. I know how lonely it is to have no family, to have no-one to support or help you. I want to be there for him, if no one else is there to help him, then i will.’_

_‘He looked shocked when i told him so, and predictably more of that ‘trash like me’ talk came out of his mouth. I didn’t listen, the surprised but delighted look on his face when i declared i would be looking after him no matter what.’_

_‘But then i thought of something, if i left to take care of Nagito, how was kirigiri going to manage by herself? Obviously i wasn’t going to abandon her forever, but how was she going to manage in the time i was gone? She told me that she was used to dangerous situations, and could handle herself just fine.’_

Then a month later

_‘So far, Nagito has been recovering nicely. Since he doesn’t have those constant operations anymore, his health might not be the same as it used to be, but it’s improving every day. But there’s another problem, i catch myself staring at him all the time. The way his hair blows when its caught in the breeze, how his eyes seem to shine when he’s happy about something. All this and more i can’t help but notice. What i said ages ago about having a crush on him was correct, what i didn’t know at the time was just how big of a crush i really had. But does he feel the same? I don’t even know if he likes boys, it’s pretty uncommon after all, but i can only hope.’_

Then the next day.

_‘Something amazing happened, Nagito kissed me! It happened out of nowhere to! I was minding my own business, preparing lunch, and he says my name to get my attention. Then when i turned around, that’s when he kissed me out of the blue! I was so happy, so happy that i didn’t know what to say. Unfortunately, he might have taken my stunned silence as rejection, because before i could kiss back, he ran away. I had to spend a good few hours tracking him down, before i found him on the roof right as the sun was setting. It was probably cheesy, but i kissed him right as the sun was going down. It was hard getting him to stop crying and stuttering, but once he did we had a discussion about what we were and what we wanted to happen.’_

_‘I’ve decided to move in with Nagito, neither of us have any family, so there was no benefit in having two houses for just the two of us. We also decided to start dating, Nagito is my boyfriend now, and i swear this is the best day of my life.’_

This made Nagito smile a mile wide, he remembered being so scared of Hajime rejecting his feelings. It made him happy beyond belief when his feelings were proven to be returned.

_‘Kyoko says that in the next few weeks everyone else should be back to normal. She also expressed doubt that any of them would remember anything, maybe a vague moment or two in a dream at most. Here again, Nagito is a special case. He seems to remember, not perfectly, but enough vague visions to work himself up into a fit when he has a nightmare about that woman.’_

_‘But for now, i want to enjoy having someone to love, i want to make Nagito the happiest boy on the face of the earth, because he deserves no less.’_

And that was the end, the last page had been filled. Nagito couldn’t help but keep that blinding smile on his face. He didn’t know Hajime could be so emotional in his writing. Hajime wasn’t a very publicly affectionate person, but in private he was sweet and kind. He also didn’t say no when Nagito initiated anything in public, he wouldn’t start anything, but he didn’t deny Nagito affection either.

But that’s when it happened, he was holding the journal open in one hand, and the second note Hajime left in the other. He was looking back and forth at both, and that’s when he noticed.

“Something’s not right here…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> END OF CHAPTER:
> 
> Ohhhh whats the big drama? The plot thickens even more next chapter, so stay tuned! :)


	16. The Paper Trail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drama is heating up in this latest installment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY EVERYONE! I finally got off my ass and started on another chapter of Princess and the commoner! It took me a bit to get motivated, but here we go!
> 
> As per usual, I own absolutely nothing! Because Komahina and Naegami continue to not be canon *Cries*

Something wasn’t right. As Nagito looked at the note in either hand, one from valentines and the other the second note he found, he couldn’t help but notice something was off. But what was it? His eyebrows came together as he tried to think about what was concerning him.

Then it hit him… his eyes widened in realisation.

“The handwritings don’t match…”

But what did this mean? Upon further examination, the first, longer one did indeed match the writings in the diary. Then when he looked for further proof, the second one was a lot more formal, stiff and clipped in it’s wording. That wasn’t like Hajime at all.

But what did this mean? Was the second note a fake? Hajime had been gone an awfully long time.

_‘Someone covered up his disappearance.’_

The thought was out before he could stop it. But then the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Why else would the message not only be vague and insistent, but also instructed him to keep silent? Usually, this would be a normal warning to keep him out of danger right? But something didn’t feel right about this. If it had only been a simple mission, he would have and should have been back hours ago.

But then, it also said he was with Kirigiri didn’t it? This meant her girlfriend had to know something. Well then, it was time to go visit Sayaka Maizono.

As he walked, he didn’t like that fact that he might have to deliver potentially bad news. It didn’t help that he thought he might have been being slightly paranoid about this. But it was nagging at the back of his mind, and he wanted answers so as to settle his confusion once and for all.

He knocked on her door, and heard a timid reply.

“W-who’s there?”

“It’s me, Nagito. Look, Sayaka, I have something I really need to talk to you about.”

“I… about what?”

Well, she was being unusually paranoid wasn’t she? This set off more alarm bells in his mind. 

“Listen Sayaka, this is _vital_ , it’s about Hajime and Kyoko.”

There was a moments hesitation, before the door finally cracked open with a muffled creak. In the crack appeared Sayaka Maizono’s face, looking hesitant.

“Are you sure…. that this is really that important?”

“Absolutely positive. Now may I please come in?”

He was getting a little bit impatient at this point, but that was understandable. He wanted to know if Hajime was in danger or not, and he wanted to know _now_. He really loved Hajime a lot, and not knowing weather something had happened to him was going to drive him crazy with worry if he didn’t find out eventually.

“…Okay, I guess.”

Thankfully, before Nagito could mentally work himself up any further, Sayaka opened the door, allowing him to finally enter. He strode inside without a moments hesitation, and began speaking without prompting.

“I think Kirigiri and Hajime are in danger.”

She put a hand over her mouth, a muffled gasp escaping.

“No, they can’t be! They’ll be home soon enough.”

“So Hajime isn’t home yet, and i’m assuming Kyoko isn’t yet either? But here’s the thing, if it were such a simple mission, wouldn’t they be back already?”

“Kyoko left a note! Surely Hajime left you one to?”

Nagito allowed himself a small smile. Finally, the evidence he was waiting to discuss.

“Yes I got one, in fact I got _two_.”

A hitch in the other’s breath told him all he needed to know.

“You wouldn’t have happened to receive a short second note as well, would you?”

She looked down, frowning.

“Yes, but… how did you know to ask?”

“Because the second one I got was shorter as well.”

Then without pause he asked another question.

“May I see the notes you got? I think there may be an important clue hidden in them.”

“… why?”

“Please trust me, it’s important.”

With a hesitant nod, Sayaka slowly moved towards the stairs, where Nagito could faintly hear her moving around. Not a minute later, she returned with two pieces of paper in her hands. She reluctantly placed them into Nagito’s waiting hands.

“I don’t know how they’ll help, but if you think they’re that important…”

With a quick ‘thank you’ without preamble he scanned through the contents of the first note. Quickly mentally highlighting the important parts. 

_-Urgent matter_  
_-Something at the Togami household_  
_-Something potentially dangerous involving the current head Togami, a man named Richard_  
_-The heiress Belinda was not with any friends, but actually missing_  
_-Richard was the main suspect_  
_-Hajime was with her_

This was substantially more information then on the note Hajime had left him. There was a brief moment of annoyance, but then was quickly followed by understanding. If to many people knew to much, that could have placed Hajime and Kyoko in danger. In the worst case scenario, it would make the most sense for himself and Sayaka to be the next targets, simply because they were important to them. Thus they could be exploited for information, or used to force Hajime and Kyoko to talk. Nagito refused to believe they were dead.

But like the note said, Sayaka was Kyoko’s beloved girlfriend, so it would make sense that she would be told more. There was no guarantee of how much Hajime had actually been told before the mission, and asking him wasn’t an option right now. Although it would probably be a fair amount if his journal was any indication, the two were close friends. His conflicting thoughts on the matter were starting to confuse him, so he decided to put that aside for later.

Then he came to the second note. And all of his thoughts were confirmed.

_-Formal clipped wording_  
_-Not in Kyoko’s handwriting_  
_-Suspicious warning to not tell anyone_

He frowned, so something had indeed happened. But what? His thoughts were broken by Sayaka’s voice.

“I-is something wrong Nagito? They’re both safe, right?”

He didn’t want to do this, but he couldn’t sugar coat it.

“Look at the second note Sayaka.”

“… what about it?”

“It’s not in Kyoko’s handwriting.”

She snatched both papers from him, reading them with rapid eye movements, obviously trying to prove him wrong. The next sound he heard form her was a horrified gasp.

“This isn’t true! This can’t be possible! Kyoko… does that mean Kyoko is-”

Nagito quickly stood up and moved in front of her, knowing where her thoughts were going. Waving his hands in what he hoped was a calming manner.

“Now, now. We don’t actually know they’re dead.”

“But we don’t know they’re _alive_!”

He said nothing, humming in thought. Then he had an idea.

“Well, someone we know might.”

“Really! Who? Who knows?”

“Sayaka, I understand you’re worried, but you need to calm down or we can’t find them as quickly.”

“I… okay. So… so who knows?”

“ _Might_ know.”

He paused.

“We could try asking Makoto, couldn’t we?”

“…but why Makoto?”

“Think about it Sayaka, Kyoko and Makoto are childhood friends, right? That means she just might have told him something.”

He could tell she agreed with his idea by the look on her face.

“Yeah, you’re right! So let’s go ask Makoto.”

“Just remember, _might_ know, Sayaka. He may indeed know something, but there's a chance he might not.” She nodded in response.

He didn’t want to have to say it, but he had to prepare her for the possibility. He didn’t want to get her hopes up for nothing. With that final word, Sayaka locked her door before following Nagito as he set off down he road towards Makoto’s house.

He couldn’t help feeling hopeful the closer he got towards Makoto’s house. Yes, he may have told Sayaka to not get her hopes up, but he couldn’t help himself. He guessed that Sayaka was feeling the same way, so really it didn’t matter. Finally, they arrived at the house they’d been looking for. 

With no hesitation whatsoever, he approached the door and knocked. It was about high noon, so if Makoto was home he should definitely be awake. 

It took a few seconds, a few seconds of nervous anticipation for both Nagito and Sayaka. But then, as Nagito was about to knock again, the door slowly. But not to Makoto’s face, but the girl that was staying with him, the intelligent one with long black hair. What was her name again?

“Excuse me, miss…?”

“Caitlin.” She answered shortly. From the little of her he’d seen since she was staying with Makoto, that was normal. Apparently that was just the way she naturally spoke, and no-one should take anything personally. Well according to Makoto himself anyway.

“Caitlin then. Is Makoto in? We need to speak with him right away.”

She stared at him blankly for a moment, before nodding.

“Very well, i’ll go and summon him.”

She walked back further into the house, deliberately leaving the door open. So the two visitors entered and shut the door behind them. After a couple of minutes of waiting and hushed voices from upstairs, she came back, following another, more familiar figure emerged.

“Nagito? Sayaka?”

“Makoto we need your help!” Sayaka burst out, unable to wait any longer. Makoto looked at her shocked at her volume, which quickly turned into a confused expression.

“Wait, guys… what’s going on?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter down! Ohhh drama’s heating upppp!~
> 
> So anyway, i hope you guys enjoyed this latest installment, and let me know what you think.
> 
> I try with my grammar and spelling, i really do, but sometimes I miss things. So feel free to let me know.
> 
> Cya next chapter! :)


End file.
